Thomas  Hazard  son  of  Rob^ 

call'd 

COLLEGE  TOM 


A   STUDY  OF  LIFE    IN  NARRAGANSETT 
IN  THE  XVIIITH   CENTURY 


BY   HIS   grandson's    GRANDDAUGHTER 

CAROLINE   HAZARD 


BOSTON    AND    NEW    YORK 

HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN   AND   COMPANY 

(iEbc  fiitieraiDc  press,  Cambribae 

1S93 


iOAK«TACS 


Copyright,  1893, 
Bv  CAROLINE   HAZARD. 

All  rights  reserved. 


Tlie  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 
Electrotyped  and  Primed  by  H.  O.  Houghton  &  Co. 


Hi- 


To 
R.  AND  M.  R.  H. 

WHO   IN  THIS  CENTURY  AND  IN  THE  SAME  NARRAGANSETT, 
FILL  THE   HONORED  PLACES  OF 

THOMAS  AND  ELIZABETH  HAZARD, 

THIS  BOOK  IS  INSCRIBED  BY  THEIR 
LOVING  DAUGHTER. 


853 


^^^^A//^^ 


PREFACE. 


The  year  following  my  grandfather's 
death,  in  1889,  after  his  papers  had  been 
sorted  and  classified,  I  began  to  work 
among  them,  hoping  to  arrange  a  memoir. 
I  soon  saw  that  I  should  have  to  begin  with 
his  grandfather,  and  was  led  still  further 
back  to  the  grandfather  of  his  grandfather. 
As  I  worked,  the  life  of  the  last  century 
cast  a  spell  over  the  present,  and  what  I 
had  undertaken  as  a  chapter  has  developed 
into  this  volume. 

My  thanks  are  especially  due  to  two 
Friends,  William  H.  Perry,  the  clerk  of  the 
Meeting,  whose  friendship  for  my  grand 
parents  led  him  to  give  me  access  to 
the  South  Kingstown  "  Monthly  Meeting 
Records,"  which  have  never  before  been 
examined  for  historical  purposes  ;  and 
Samuel  Austin,   a   descendant   of   College 


vi  PREFACE 

Tom's  contemporary,  who  searched  the 
Rhode  Island  "  Yearly  Meeting  Records " 
for  me.  Besides  these  I  owe  valuable  sug- 
gestions to  Mrs.  Caroline  E.  Robinson, 
whose  researches  in  the  South  Kingstown 
Records  I  hope  may  soon  be  published. 

The  details  here  presented  may  seem 
trifling  —  the  accounts  of  household  con- 
cerns and  neighborhood  transactions  ;  and 
so  they  are  if  they  do  not  inspire  a  greater 
reverence  for  the  body  which  is  "  more 
than  raiment,"  and  the  life  which  is  "  more 
than  meat."  The  problems  of  that  day 
were  different  from  ours,  but  the  courage 
required  to  face  them  was  the  same.  The 
men  in  their  homespun  and  the  women  in 
their  "camblit"  cloaks  lived  and  loved  much 
as  we  do.  And  so  this  little  bit  of  the  old 
life  makes  a  link  in  the  unending  chain  of 
life,  —  that  life  which  is  constantly  aspiring, 
ever  seeking  its  divine  source. 

C.  H. 

Oakwoods  in  Peace  Dale,  R.  I. 
October  9,  1S93. 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

CHAPTER  I.  Upon  the  Narragansett  Coun- 
try AND  THE  First  Settlers  in  it   ...    .      i 

CHAPTER  II.  The  Early  Life  of  College 
Tom,  and  his  Marriage 27 

CHAPTER  III.  Upon  Slavery  in  Narragan- 
sett, AND  College  Tom's  Opposition  to  it  .    42 

CHAPTER  IV.  The  Account  Book  of  Thomas 
Hazard  Son  of  Robert,  called  College 
Tom,  with  some  Mention  of  Horses     ...    56 

CHAPTER  V.  Upon  Cows,  and  the  Products 
OF  the  Dairy iS 

CHAPTER  VI.  A  Pastoral,  introducing  Spin- 
ners AND  Weavers 91 

CHAPTER  VII.  Upon  Corn,  and  Husbandry 
IN  General 109 

CHAPTER  VIII.  A  Woman's  Chapter,  with 
some  Gossip 125 

CHAPTER  IX.  Upon  the  Evils  of  a  Depre- 
ciated Currency,  and  the  Disorders  it 
engenders • 143 

CHAPTER  X.  The  South  Kingstown  Monthly 
Meeting  and  the  Abolition  of  Slavery  in 
Rhode  Island 159 

CHAPTER  XI.  Upon  the  Revolution,  and  the 
Closing  Days  of  College  Tom's  Life     .    .190 

APPENDIX. 

L   Mr.  Samuell  Sewall's  Deed,  1698   .    .     .    .217 

11.   Receipt  for  Rent  from  Mr.  Brenton,  1702    .  222 


Vlll  CONTENTS 

III.   Letter  from  Judge  Sewall  to  Thomas 

Hazard,  1716 223 

IV.  Opinion  of  the  King's  Attorney  Gen- 
eral IN  regard  to  a  Quaker  Gov- 
ernor, 1734 224 

V.  Attestation  of  Thomas  Foxcroft  and 

Charles  Chauncy,  1735 226 

VI.   Will  of  Thomas  Hazard,  1746  ....  230 
VII.  A    Copy    of  a    Letter  from  Quebeck, 

1747 237 

VIII.  Susquehannah  Company  Receipts,  1754- 

1768 244 

IX.  An  Apprenticeship  Paper,  i  768  ....  246 
X.  A  Lease  from  Stephen  Champlin,  1772.  248 
XI.   Manuscript  in    the    Hand  of  Thomas 

Hazard  Son  of  Robert,  1772   .    .    .  250 
XII.  Letter   from    Matthew    Griswold    to 

Governor  Wanton,  1773 252 

XIII.   Copy    of    a    Minute    from    Quarterly 

Meeting,  1775 253 

XIV.   Copy  of  a  Minute  of  a  Meeting  for 

Sufferings,  1776 254 

XV.   Release  of  Guardianship,  1776.    .    .    .  255 
XVI.  Constitution    of   the    Providence  So- 
ciety    FOR    abolishing     THE     SLAVE 

Trade 256 

XVII.   Will  of  Thomas  Hazard  Son  of  Rob- 
ert, 1793 260 

XVIII.   Rhode  Island  Currency 264 

Sundry  Prices  and  Various  Entries  taken  from 
the  Account  Book  of  Thomas  Hazard  Son 

of  Robert,  i  750-1 784 266 

Contracts  for  Labour,  i  757-1 795 308 

Record  of  Births,  1747-1781 314 

A  Regestor  of  Death's,  i  732-1 773 31S 


LIST  OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page 

Map  of  Pettaquamscut  Purchase  .    Frontispiece 

Signatures  of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  Hazard        .        .     iv 

Receipt  of  Rent 26 

Letter  from  William  Robinson 38 

The  Spanish  Mill'd  Dollar 61 

Four-Dollar  Bill 108 

A  Typical  Order 124 

Susquehannah  Company  Receipt          .        .        .        .144 
Eight-Dollar  Bill 158 


COLLEGE   TOM. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Physical  Features  of  Narragansett.  Its  Disputed 
Boundaries.  Roger  Williams'  Entrj'  into  the  Country. 
The  Pettaquamscut  Purchase.  The  Atherton  Company. 
The  King's  Province.  George  Fox  preaches  there. 
The  Great  Swamp  Fight.  Kingstown  incorporated. 
Robert  Hazard  the  First  of  the  Narragansett  Hazards. 
His  Father  in  Portsmouth.  His  Son  Thomas.  The 
Sewall  Deeds.  Judge  Sewall.  Point  Judith.  Other 
Purchases  by  Thomas  Hazard.  His  Will.  Changes  in 
Narragansett. 

The  development  of  small  and  isolated 
communities  has  long  furnished  a  fascinat- 
ing theme  for  the  historian  and  the  poet. 
The  scope  afforded  for  original  personality 
is  great,  and  the  tendency  to  follow  a  natural 
leader  most  strongly  marked  in  a  society  so 
closely  bound  together.  These  two  oppos- 
ing forces  working  against  each  other  com- 
bine to  foster  the  growth  of  strong  individ- 
uality. When  a  community  is  entirely  self 
sustaining  in  material  things,  and  indepen- 
dent in   intellectual,  the  old  saying  might 


2  COLLEGE    TOM 

be  paraphrased  to  read  "in  limitation  is 
strength."  Especially  was  this  true  in  a 
new  country,  where  the  resources  of  men 
were  taxed  to  their  utmost ;  and  of  no  part 
of  the  new  world  was  this  more  true 
than  of  Rhode  Island,  and  that  part  of 
Rhode  Island  called  the  Narragansett  coun- 
try. Not  from  choice,  but  from  dire  neces- 
sity was  Providence  planted  in  the  wilder- 
ness. To  it  came  not  the  men  Roger 
Williams  would  have  chosen,  but  men  like 
himself  in  peril  of  their  lives  from  the  self- 
righteous  neighbor  which  shook  off  what 
was  considered  their  polluting  presence. 
No  common  idea  bound  them  together,  and 
though  Roger  Williams  by  his  force  and 
beauty  of  character  long  maintained  his 
natural  leadership,  it  was  often  a  difficult 
matter.  Portsmouth  and  Newport  in  the 
same  way  were  founded  by  exiles,  who  soon 
quarreled  among  themselves,  and  the  town 
of  Warwick  resulted  from  forcibly  deporting 
some  of  the  turbulent  spirits  from  the  Island. 
As  the  tide  of  immigration  to  Rhode  Island 
came  not  by  sea  but  from  the  north,  the 
southern  portion,  the  country  of  the  Narra- 
gansetts,  was  naturally  the  last  to  be  opened 
to  white  settlers.    As  early  as  1634,  Governor 


THE  NARRAGANSETT  COUNTRY  3 

Winthrop  describes  it.  "  The  country  on  the 
west  of  the  bay  of  Narragansett,"  he  writes, 
"  is  all  champain  for  many  miles,  but  very 
stony  and  full  of  Indians."-^  Except  that  the 
Indians  are  gone,  this  is  a  true  description 
to  this  day.  Now  we  speak  of  South  Kings- 
town as  the  Narragansett  country,  but  in 
the  old  days  when  the  Narragansetts  were 
a  powerful  tribe  their  special  territory  was 
bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Cowesits  and 
Shawomuts,  bordering  on  Greenwich  Bay, 
and  on  the  west  by  the  formidable  Pequots.^ 
The  long  finger  of  Point  Judith  stretches 
far  out  into  the  sea,  giving  a  long  line  of 
coast,  part  of  it  bold  and  rocky,  where  the 
great  sea-bass  are  still  caught,  and  part  with 
beaches  and  shallow  ponds  full  of  clams  and 
oysters.  It  is  a  small  bit  of  country,  "  this 
little  corner,"  as  Dr.  McSparran  called  it, 
watered  by  several  good  streams.  The 
Pettaquamscut  flows  from  a  charming  lake, 
not  above  tide  water,  and  separates  the 
fertile  lands  of  Boston  Neck  from  Tower 
Hill.  Then  comes  the  Saugatucket,  which 
takes  the  westerly  water-shed  of  the  ridge 

1  Quoted   in  Potter,  Early  History  of  Narragansett, 
p.  1 6. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  I  and  3. 


4  COLLEGE   TOM 

of  hills,  with  their  glacial  scratches  and 
granite  boulders,  which  make  the  backbone 
of  Rhode  Island.  Farther  west  still,  be- 
yond the  crest  of  Little  Rest  Hill,  flows  the 
Chepuxet  into  Worden's  Pond,  along  the 
borders  of  which  lies  the  Great  Swamp, 
and  issues  from  it  the  Pawcatuck,  the  little 
river  which  figured  prominently  in  the  Eng- 
lish courts.^  All  this  land  was  granted  by 
a  liberal  king  to  two  colonies,  Connecti- 
cut and  Rhode  Island ;  for.  Dr.  McSparran 
justly  observes,  "  as  the  geography  of  this 
country  was  hardly  emerged  into  any  tol- 
erable light,  instead  of  ascertaining  their 
limits  on  earth  they  fixed  their  boundaries 
in  the  heavens."^  If  the  Pawcatuck,  as  the 
Rhode  Island  men  held,  was  the  stream 
called  Narragansett  River,  it  marked  the 
boundary  of  Connecticut ;  if,  on  the  contrary, 
the  bay  was  meant  by  that  name,  the  whole 
country  was  lost  to  Rhode  Island. 

Into  this  well  watered  land,  with  its  forests, 
and  "  full  of  Indians,"  Roger  Williams  pen- 
etrated some  time  before  1650,^  and  here  the 
persecuted  man  found  a  warm  welcome.    He 

*  Potter,  Early  History  of  Narragansett^  p.  234. 

2  Updike,  History  of  the  Narragansett  Church,  p.  500. 

2  Potter,  Early  History  of  Narragansett,  p.  4. 


THE  PETTAQUAMSCUT  PURCHASE        5 

renders  thanks  "  to  the  Most  High  who  stirred 
up  the  barbarous  heart  of  Cononicus  to  love 
me  as  his  son  to  his  last  gasp."  ^  Here  he 
went  to  see  the  little  island  called  Nahi- 
gansett,  "  and  about  the  place  called  Sugar 
Loaf  Hill  I  saw  it,"  he  writes,  "and  was 
within  a  pole  of  it,  but  could  not  learn 
why  it  was  called  Nahigansett."  ^  Richard 
Smith  had  built  a  trading-house  near  Wick- 
ford,  a  few  years  before,  and  soon  took  con- 
trol of  the  more  southerly  station  which 
Roger  Williams  established.  But  little  pro- 
gress was  made  toward  opening  the  coun- 
try for  settlement  until  the  two  great  pur- 
chases, the  first  in  1657  by  John  Hull,  the 
goldsmith  of  Boston,  and  his  associates, 
called  the  Pettaquamscut  purchase,^  and 
the  second  by  the  Humphrey  Atherton 
Company  in  1659.''  The  Pettaquamscut 
purchases  extended  over  a  period  of  several 
years,  and  were  made  with  the  consent  of 
the  colonies,  while  the  Atherton  Company, 
Potter  declares,  bought  their  land  "  in  con- 
travention of  an  express  law  of  the  colony,"'' 
and,   therefore,    could    not    be    recognized 

^  Potter,  Early  History  of  A-arragansctt,  p.  4. 
2  Ibid.  3  ji,i,i^  p.  275. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  58.  5  Ibid.,  p.  59. 


6  COLLEGE    TOM 

by  the  government.  The  two  purchases 
covered  portions  of  the  same  land,  and  end- 
less strife  resulted.  Of  the  seven  Petta- 
quamscut  purchasers  all  except  John  Hull 
were  settlers  in  Rhode  Island.  Wilson  and 
Mumford  were  actually  in  the  Narragan- 
sett  country,  and  others  came,  or  were  in 
Newport,  near  by.  The  Atherton  Company 
seems  to  have  been  the  speculation  of 
absentee  landlords.  The  younger  Win- 
throp  of  Connecticut  was  one  of  its  rul- 
ing spirits.  Bradstreet,  the  Stantons,  and 
Smiths  were  of  the  company.  A  recent 
writer  thinks  scant  justice  has  been  done 
these  pioneers,  whom  the  Pettaquamscut  men 
regarded  as  such  intruders,  but  he  says  they 
were  all  "anti-Rhode-Islanders  in  spirit."-^ 
Members  of  this  company  at  this  early  day 
declare  that  Rhode  Island  is  "  a  rodde  to 
those  that  love  to  live  in  order,  —  a  road, 
refuge,  asylum  to  evil  livers.  The  public 
rolls  record  what  malefactors,  what  capital 
offenders,  have  found  it  their  unhallowed 
sanctuary."  ^  And,  indeed,  from  the  Connec- 
ticut point  of  view  this  was  quite  true,  for  the 

^  Dr.   Edward  Channing,  The  Narragansett  Planters, 

P-  13- 
2  Ibid. 


CONFLICTING  CLAIMS  7 

founders  of  the  three  towns,  Roger  Williams 
at  Providence,  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  her 
associates  at  Portsmouth,  and  Samuel  Gor- 
ton at  Warwick,  were  all  "  capital  offend- 
ers." In  contrast  to  this  Williams  nobly  ex- 
pressed what  came  to  be  the  ideal  Rhode 
Island  spirit,  when  he  replied  to  the  demand 
of  Massachusetts  to  banish  Quakers :  "  We 
have  no  law  amongst  us  whereby  to  punish 
any  for  only  declaring  by  words  their  minds 
and  understanding  concerning  the  things 
and  ways  of  God  as  to  salvation  and  our 
eternal  condition."  ^ 

Both  companies  undoubtedly  expected 
large  results  from  their  land  scheme.  The 
Pettaquamscut  purchasers  bought  their  first 
large  tract  of  land  from  the  Indians  for 
sixteen  pounds  and  other  considerations.^ 
How  much  the  Indians  understood  of  it  all 
is  very  uncertain ;  especially  of  the  terms  of 
mortgage,  which  they  did  not  fulfill.  They 
were  stirred  to  opposition,  and  in  1662 
made  a  protest  to  the  pretended  "  title  to 
Point  Jude  and  other  lands  adjoining."^ 
The     Pettaquamscut     purchasers,    holding 

^  Fiske,  Beginnings  of  N'ew  England,  p.  184. 
*  Potter,  Early  History  of  Narragansett,  p.  275. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  277. 


8  COLLEGE    TOM 

under  Rhode  Island  law,  were  bound  to 
support  the  royal  charter  of  1643,  giving 
the  land  to  Rhode  Island ;  while  the  Ather- 
ton  Company  maintained  the  validity  of  the 
grant  of  1631  confirmed  in  1662,  to  the  Earl 
of  Warwick,  by  which  Connecticut  claimed 
it.-^  So  hot  did  the  dispute  become  that 
two  years  later  the  King's  commissioners 
appointed  to  settle  it  summarily  took  the 
country  from  both  colonies  claiming  it,  and 
erected  it  into  a  separate  government 
called  the  King's  Province.^  After  1666 
the  Governor  and  assistants  of  Rhode 
Island  took  the  place  of  its  own  officers, 
which  for  two  years  had  been  appointed  by 
the  Crown.  All  this  dissension  naturally 
prevented  the  rapid  growth  of  the  country. 
A  few  years  later  the  General  Assembly  at 
Newport  (1672)  appointed  four  commission- 
ers "  to  goe  over  to  Narragansett  and  to  take 
view  of  such  places  there  and  there  about 
that  are  fit  for  plantations."  They  were  in- 
structed to  inform  the  English  and  Indians 
that  "  the  Collony  doth  intend  such  lands 
shall  be  improved  by  peoplinge  the  same.  "  ^ 

*  Potter,  Early  History  of  Narragansett,  p.  62. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  69. 

8  R.  L  C.  R.,  vol.  ii.  p.  Sy. 


GEORGE  FOX  g 

So  Rhode  Island  was  taking  the  matter 
into  her  own  hands.  Instead  of  sending 
"  assistants  "  to  the  General  Assembly  the 
Court  of  General  Assembly  went  to  Narra- 
gansett.  On  a  May  day  in  1671  Governor 
Nicholas  Easton,  and  the  other  officers  of 
the  Colony,  met  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Jireh 
Bull  in  Pettaquamscut.  A  courier  was  dis- 
patched through  the  country  "  to  warne 
the  inhabitants  of  this  Plantation  to  attend 
to-morrow  morning  at  six  of  the  clock,"  ^ 
when  among  other  business  transacted  Mr. 
Bull  himself,  Mr.  Samuel  Wilson,  and  Mr. 
William  Hefernan  were  chosen  justices.^ 

To  this  house  in  1672,  the  following 
year,  came  a  very  different  embassy.  The 
Governor  was  the  same  and  came  again  from 
Newport,  but  with  him  came  a  greater  than 
his  justices,  George  Fox,  the  saintly  apostle 
of  the  Inner  Light.  Fox  himself  describes 
the  meeting,  which  seems  to  have  taken 
place  at  the  Bull  house,  known  to  have 
been  large  and  a  usual  place  of  assembly. 

"  We  had  a  meeting  at  a  justice's,  "  he 
writes,  "  where  Friends  never  had  any  before. 
The  meeting  was  very  large,  for  the  country 

1  R.  I.  C.  R.,  vol.  ii.  p.  39. 
a  Ibid. 


lO  COLLEGE   TOM 

generally  came  in  ;  and  people  from  Connect- 
icut and  other  parts  round  about.  There 
were  four  justices  of  the  peace.  Most  of 
these  people  were  such  as  had  never  heard 
Friends  before ;  but  they  were  mightily 
affected,  and  a  great  desire  is  there  after 
the  truth  amongst  them.  So  that  meeting 
was  of  very  good  service,  blessed  be  the 
Lord  for  ever !  "  ^  He  was  asked  to  come 
again,  but  says  he  "  was  clear  of  those 
parts."  However,  he  "  laid  this  place  before  " 
two  of  his  companions,  John  Burnyeate 
and  John  Cartwright,  who  "felt  drawings 
thither,  and  went  to  visit  them."  So  the 
meeting  which  had  so  much  influence  in 
Narragansett  was  established.  The  house 
itself  in  which  the  gospel  of  peace  was 
preached  by  this  saintly  man  had  a  tragic 
fate.  It  stood  on  the  crest  of  a  hill,  now 
called  Tower  Hill,  to  guard  against  surprise, 
for  the  country  was  still  full  of  Indians,  and 
Indians  exasperated  by  ill  usage.  King 
Philip's  war  was  already  brewing  when  the 
saintly  man  was  there.  One  December 
night  in  1675  the  house  was  attacked,  set 
on  fire,  and  two  men  and  five  women  and 
children  killed.     The  news  of  this  outrage 

^  Fox,  Journal^  1672. 


THE  GREA  T  SWAMP  FIGHT  1 1 

reached  the  army  at  Warwick  on  the  eight- 
eenth or  nineteenth,  and  in  hot  haste  they 
started  for  vengeance.  The  Indians  were 
found  strongly  encamped  on  the  shores  of 
the  Great  Pond,  and  the  dreadful  slaughter 
of  the  Great  Swamp  Fight  followed.  It 
seems  an  especial  irony  of  fate  that  the 
destruction  of  the  house  from  which  the 
purest  gospel  of  peace  and  long-suffering 
had  first  been  preached,  should  have  been 
the  actual  incitement  to  one  of  the  most 
bloody  of  the  Indian  battles. 

Such  was  the  state  of  the  country;  un- 
safe as  to  Indians,  uncertain  as  to  title  of 
lands, —  for  the  conflicting  claims  of  the  two 
purchases  were  not  settled  until  1 679,^  —  and 
unstable  as  to  government.  In  1674  Kings- 
town was  incorporated  for  the  amiable  rea- 
son of  "  obstructing  Connecticut  from  using 
jurisdiction  in  the  Narragansett  country." 
They  must  be  strong  men  who  could 
maintain  themselves  in  such  a  disorgan- 
ized society.  Each  man  was  a  law  to  him- 
self, and  it  is  small  wonder  that  Narragan- 
sett developed  men  of  great  individuality 
and  pronounced  character. 

^  Dr.  Edward  Charming,  The  Narragansett  Pla7iters, 
p.  14. 


12  COLLEGE    TOM 

Here  it  was  that  Robert  Hazard  took  up 
his  abode.  In  1671  he  bought  five  hundred 
acres  from  the  Pettaquamscut  purchasers, 
bounded  north  by  the  road,  east  by  the  Saka- 
tucket,"  a  tract  of  land  lying  between  Kings- 
ton and  Rose  Hill.  He  had  come  from 
England  with  his  father,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  four  years  old  when  the  latter  joined 
in  founding  the  town  of  Newport  in  1638. 
Who  this  first  Thomas  Hazard  was  no  one 
knows.  The  times  were  troublous  in  the 
Mother-country,  as  well  as  in  New  England. 
The  Hassards,  or  Hassarts,  took  an  active 
part  in  the  siege  of  Londonderry,  having 
gone  to  Ireland  from  Nottinghamshire,^  and 
T.  R.  Hazard  thinks  the  American  adven- 
turer was  a  brother  of  Robert  Hazard  of 
Enniskillen,  who  died  in  1668.  However 
this  may  be,  he  came  from  Boston,  where 
he  was  admitted  freeman  in  1636,  to  Ports- 
mouth, very  possibly  with  Mrs.  Hutchinson. 
On  the  Island,  trouble  had  already  begun 
on  account  of  the  diversity  of  religious 
belief.  Samuel  Gorton,  that "  proud  and 
pestilent  seducer,"  as  he  was  termed  in  the 
language  of  the  day,  with  his  preaching  of 

1  J.  Hassard-Short,  History  and  Lineage  of  tJie  Hassards, 
p.  20. 


THOMAS  HAZARD   OF  PORTSMOUTH    1 3 

private  inspiration  and  "  mystical  rubbish,"  ^ 
as  Mr.  Fiske  calls  it,  arrived  in  Aquidneck 
in  1638,  sowing  dissension  among  Mrs. 
Hutchinson's  followers ;  and  on  the  twenty- 
eighth  day  of  the  second  month,  1639, 
Thomas  Hazard  was  an  Elder  in  the  new 
government,  which,  under  William  Cod- 
dington  as  judge,  agreed  "to  Propagate 
a  Plantation  in  the  midst  of  the  Island  or 
elsewhere."  Mr.  John  Clarke,  Mr.  Jeffreys, 
Thomas  Hazard,  and  William  Dyre  were 
ordered  to  lay  out  the  "  meadow  growndes 
lying  within  the  circuit  of  Newport "  and 
"  to  proportion  it  forth  dewlie."^ 

The  Portsmouth  records  give  a  few  scant 
details  of  the  life  of  this  first  Rhode  Island 
Hazard.  He  had  two  daughters,  and  in 
1658  gave  thirty-four  acres  of  land  as  dowry 
for  his  daughter  Hannah.  In  1675  he  filed 
a  paper  disclaiming  any  interest  in  the 
property  of  the  widow  Martha  Sheriffe,^ 
whom  he  was  about  to  marry,  and  in  his 
will  made  the  following  year  cuts  off  his 
son  and  daughters  with  a  shilling  each,  and 
leaves  his  wife  all  his  property.'*     Robert, 

^  John  Fiske,  Beginnings  of  New  England^  pp.  163-7. 
2  R.  I.  C.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  87. 

^  Records  0/ For/spnouf/i,  transcribed  by  Barclay  Hazard 
in  T.  R.  Hazard's  Recollectio7is  of  Olden  Times,  p.  103. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  106. 


14  COLLEGE    TOM 

the  son,  was  by  this  time  settled  in  Narra- 
gansett,  where  he  surveyed  and  divided  the 
land  around  Kingston,  and  is  called  Rob- 
ert Hazard,  Surveyor.^  In  1693  he  signed 
first  of  the  witnesses  to  the  signatures  of 
the  seven  purchasers  to  a  paper  respecting 
the  allotment  of  land."  He  left  five  sons,  the 
eldest  named  Thomas  after  his  grandfather, 
a  custom  which  was  continued  for  seven 
generations,  each  eldest  son  of  an  eldest 
son  being  named  after  his  grandfather, 
making  a  succession  of  alternate  Thomas 
and  Robert  Hazards.  At  first  blush  this 
would  seem  to  lighten  the  labors  of  the 
student  of  heredity,  but  unfortunately  for 
his  research,  Robert  Hazard  had  not  only 
Thomas  for  eldest  son,  but  a  Robert  for 
third  son.  His  second  son  George  had  an 
eldest  son  Robert,  and  also  a  son  Thomas. 
Though  the  family  rule  was  adhered  to, 
each  son,  with  characteristic  individuality, 
founded  a  family  of  his  own,  using  the 
names  of  the  older  branch  whenever  he 
chose.  By  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury there  were  in  this  way  some  thirty 
Thomas    Hazards,   of  various    degrees    of 

1  Potter's  Early  History  of  Narraganscit,  p.  290. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  283. 


THOMAS  HAZARD  OF  BOSTON  NECK    1 5 

kinship,  all  calling  each  other  "loving 
cousin,"  and  distinguished  by  some  nick- 
name. Updike  gives  a  list  of  fourteen, 
headed  with  College  Tom/  Bedford  Tom, 
Nailer  Tom,  Fiddle-head  Tom,  Pistol  Tom, 
Short  Stephen's  Tom,  are  some  of  the 
names  given  in  commemoration  of  some 
event  in  their  lives,  or  some  personal 
characteristic. 

Thomas  Hazard,  the  eldest  son  of  this 
first  Narragansett  Robert,  became  a  great 
land-holder.  He  is  described  as  "  of  Boston 
Neck  in  the  King's  Province  or  Narragan- 
sett Country,  yeoman,"  when  on  the  twenty- 
eighth  of  April,  1698,  he  bought  about  a 
thousand  acres  of  land  from  "  Samuel  Sew- 
all  of  Boston,  in  the  county  of  Suffolk, 
within  the  Province  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bay,  in  New  England,  Esquire.""  The  pur- 
chase included  land  on  the  Saugatucket, 
probably  the  site  of  the  village  of  Peace  Dale, 
land  on  the  Pettaquamscut,  and  other  lands 
in  the  Pettaquamscut  purchase  "  lying  by 
the  sea  side  there."  In  1710  he  bought 
more  land  of  the  same  Samuel  Sewall,  and 
Hannah    his    wife,    who   sign     the   second 

^  History  of  the  Narragansett  Church,  p.  247. 
^  See  Appendix,  The  Sewall  Deed. 


1 6  COLLEGE    TOM 

deed  as  firmly  as  the  fine  parchment  twelve 
years  earlier.  This  second  purchase  in- 
cluded land  lying  on  the  west  shore  of  the 
Great  Pond  and  various  tracts  of  both 
"  Upland  and  Marsh,"  with  sedge  rights  in 
Pettaquamscut  cove,  which  were  carefully 
bequeathed  by  will. 

Both  the  Sewall  deeds  are  beautifully  en- 
grossed,—  the  first  upon  parchment,  the 
second  upon  heavy  paper.  The  first  is  a 
true  "  Indenture,"  the  graceful  curves  in 
which  the  top  of  the  deed  is  cut  fitting  into 
the  record  which  was  retained  by  the  town 
clerk.  The  first  deed  was  acknowledged 
before  John  Walley,  "  one  of  the  members  of 
his  Majesty's  council  for  the  Province  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bay."  This  was  Sewall's 
friend,  to  whom  reference  is  made  in  the 
letter  of  1689,  in  which  he  is  entreated  by 
Sewall  "  to  act  on  my  behalf  as  you  would 
do  for  yourself  were  the  case  your  own  as  it 
is  mine."^  In  1692  he  was  Sewall's  attor- 
ney at  a  meeting  of  the  Pettaquamscut 
Purchasers,-  perhaps  in  compliance  with  this 
request.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of 
Bristol,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Bay,  and  a 

^  See  Appendix,  Letter  from  Judge  Sewall. 

2  Potter,  Early  History  of  A'arragaJisett,  p.  281. 


JUDGE   SEW  ALL  I? 

man  of  most  liberal  mind  and  high  charac- 
ter/ 

Dame  Hannah  Sewall,  who  signs  also, 
was  the  daughter  of  the  Mint-Master  John 
Hull,  about  whom  the  delightful  story  is 
told,  that  on  her  wedding  day  her  father 
put  her  in  one  side  of  the  great  scales,  and 
fairly  weighed  her  down  with  pine-tree  shil- 
lings as  her  dowry .^ 

Judge  Sewall  himself  was  born  in  Eng- 
land in  1652,  and  came  to  Massachusetts 
in  1 66 1.  He  was  the  famous  witch  judge, 
more  famous  for  the  nobility  of  his  confes- 
sion of  penitence  for  his  share  in  that  dread- 
ful delusion  than  for  the  error  he  was  led 
into.  He  is  the  typical  Puritan  of  the  time, 
and  with  his  liberal  mind  and  true  piety  had 
much  to  do  in  shaping  the  new  province. 

With  the  religious  zeal  of  the  day,  three 
hundred  acres  were  set  aside  in  1668  "to  be 
laid  out  and  forever  set  apart  as  an  encour- 
agement, the  income  or  improvement  thereof 
wholly  for  an  Orthodox  person  that  shall  be 
obtained  to  preach  God's  word  to  the  In- 

1  J.  L.  Diman,  Orations  and  Essays,  "  The  Settlement 
of  Mt.  Hope." 

'^  Hawthorne,  "The  Pine-Tree  Shillings,"  in  Grand- 
father's Chair. 


1 8  COLLEGE    TOM 

habitants."^  In  1695  J^^ge  Sewall  gave 
land  to  establish  a  school,^  a  foundation 
which  still  exists,  and  is  known  as  the  Sew- 
all  School,  held  regularly  at  Kingston.  He 
also  gave  land,  the  income  of  which  was  to 
educate  youths  at  Harvard  College,  "  espe- 
cially such  as  shall  be  sent  from  Pettaquam- 
scutt  aforesaid,  English  or  Indians."  Thus 
early  was  provision  made  for  the  higher  edu- 
cation of  the  Indians;  they  were  also  spe- 
cially mentioned  in  the  provision  for  the 
school.  It  was  he  who  was  among  the  first 
to  raise  his  voice  for  the  slave.  "  These 
Ethiopians  as  black  as  they  are ;  seeing  th£y 
are  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of  the  first 
Adam,  the  Brethren  and  Sisters  of  the  last 
Adam,  and  the  offspring  of  God;  They 
ought  to  be  treated  with  a  Respect  agree- 
able." ^  It  was  with  such  a  man  of  liberal 
mind  and  true  piety,  but  withal  a  man  keen 
at  a  bargain,  that  Thomas  Hazard  had  deal- 
ings. The  deeds  are  drawn  and  signed  in 
Boston,  so  he  must  have  made  that  journey, 
—  probably  by  the  old  Pequot  trail,  which 
afterward  became  the  high  road,  —  at  least 

1  Potter,  Early  History  of  lYarraganscit,  p.  278. 

2  Ibid. 

8  5  Mass.  H.  C.  vi.  16.     Quoted  by  W.  B.  Weeden. 


POINT  JUDITH  19 

on  these  two  occasions.  The  diary  of  Judge 
Sewall  is  very  exact  as  to  his  expenses  and 
bargaining,  and  these  long  and  cumbersome 
deeds  doubtless  necessitated  many  a  conver- 
sation. The  money  was  paid  in  two  install- 
ments on  the  first  purchase,  five  hundred 
pounds  current  money  of  New  England 
were  paid  down,  and  the  remaining  two 
hundred  left  on  mortgage.  The  colonies 
were  already  in  difficulties  over  their  money. 
One  third  discount  from  "  Country  pay " 
for  money  was  a  usual  rate  in  Massachu- 
setts after  1680.^  The  first  paper  money 
was  issued  by  that  colony  in  1690,^  and  all 
the  colonies  were  in  a  similar  case,  so  that 
the  "  pound  current  of  New  England  "  had 
already  depreciated  from  a  gold  standard. 

Land  was  rented  in  the  English  way 
from  Lady  Day  to  Lady  Day,  and  there 
are  deeds  of  other  lands,  — one  in  1722  "of 
a  certain  place  called  Point  Juda  and  Pet- 
taquamscutt  purchase,"  which  in  the  next 
year  is  given  to  the  eldest  son,  and  called 
"  the  point  Judah  neck."  It  is  curious  to 
observe  the  transitions  of  this  nam€.  The 
local  name  is  Pi7it  Judy  pint,  with  the  ac- 

^  "W&td&n,  Economtc  and  Social  History  of  N.  £".,  p.  327. 
"  Ibid.,  p.  330. 


20  COLLEGE    TOM 

cent  thrown  strongly  on  the  second  pint  in 
South  County  speech.  The  story  is  told  of 
a  vessel  sailing  in  the  fog,  and  nearing  the 
breakers,  but  unable  to  shape  a  course  for 
the  thickness  of  the  weather.  The  captain's 
wife  suddenly  exclaimed  that  she  saw  land, 
and  tried  to  indicate  upon  which  quarter. 
"  Pint,  Judy,  pint! "  her  husband  shouted  to 
her,  and  as  the  fog  lifted  there  was  Point 
Judith,  which  has  ever  since  borne  that 
name.  However  this  may  be,  the  transition 
from  Jude,  and  Juda  or  Judah,  as  some  old 
deeds  have  it,  to  Judith  was  made  easy  to 
the  Pettaquamscut  purchasers,  from  the 
fact  that  Dame  Hull,  the  wife  of  the  gold- 
smith, bore  that  name.  The  ordinary  pro- 
nunciation of  Judy  would  seem  to  them  a 
disrespectful  abbreviation.  If  this  deriva- 
tion is  correct,  it  is  true  in  a  way  that  the 
point  was  named  after  Sewall's  mother-in- 
law,  as  some  authorities  maintain,  but  where 
the  first  name  came  from  is  still  a  mystery. 
A  great  purchase  of  land  was  made  in 
1738,  from  Francis  Brinley,  Esq.,  and  Dame 
Deborah  his  wife,  which  included  the  whole 
southern  portion  of  Boston  Neck,  adjoining 
a  purchase  of  six  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
made  from  Samuel  Vail  somewhat  earlier. 


LARGE  PURCHASES  21 

There  were  about  eight  hundred  acres  of 
this  land,  which  was  surveyed  and  divided 
into  four  parts  in  the  following  year  by 
James  Helme,  surveyor,  and  the  map  care- 
fully preserved  with  the  deed.  The  price  at 
first  sight  seems  enormous.  Twenty-four 
thousand  pounds  "  Current  Lawful  Money 
of  New  England  "  were  paid  for  the  eight 
hundred  acres.  But  the  depreciation  of  the 
currency  was  already  great.  Silver  had  long 
been  current  at  eight  shillings  an  ounce.^ 
In  1738  the  rate  in  Rhode  Island  had  risen 
to  twenty-seven  shillings  in  bills  per  ounce," 
making  the  colonial  pound  in  paper  equal  five 
shillings  eleven  pence  silver.  Thus  the  value 
of  the  money  paid  was  only  ^7,100,  reduced 
to  the  current  price  of  silver  of  eight  shillings 
per  ounce.  This  was  two  shillings  higher 
than  the  sterling  value,  so  that  the  pounds 
should  be  carried  at  $Z.ZZ^  niaking  the  sum 
paid  $23,600,  or  about  twenty-nine  dollars  an 
acre.  One  of  the  tracts  of  land  into  which 
the  new  purchase  was  divided,  in  a  deed  ad- 
dressed "  To  all  Christian  people,"  is  given 
to  Robert  Hazard,  the  eldest  son  of  Thomas, 
in  consideration  of  "  natural  love  and  affec- 

1  Weeden,  Economic  and  Social  History  of  N.  E.,  p.  473. 

2  Rider,  R.  I.  Historical  Tracts,  No.  8,  p.  55. 


22  COLLEGE    TOM 

tion."  The  earliest  deed  of  gift  to  this  son 
bears  his  mother's  signature  also,  Susannah 
Hafzard.  She  is  thought  to  have  been  a 
Nichols,  a  sister  of  the  Lieutenant-Governor 
of  that  name,  but  no  one  knows  certainly. 
The  black  seal  she  pressed,  and  the  faded 
paper  with  her  name,  are  all  that  remain 
to  bear  witness  of  her. 

There  are  other  deeds  of  gift  to  his  sons, 
from  "  Thomas  Hazard  senior  of  South 
Kingstown,  etc.,  gentleman,"  as  he  is  now 
called,  or  as  the  Narragansett  Church  Record 
less  respectfully  calls  him,  "  Old  Thomas 
Hazard."  ^  An  amusing  variety  of  spelling 
in  the  common  surname  occurs.  There  is 
but  one  signature  of  Old  Thomas  Hazard. 
All  the  deeds  are  signed  with  a  T,  and  his 
name  written  with  a  double  z.  His  eldest 
son  writes  his  name  with  a  double  s,  or  an 
s  and  a  z,  Jeremiah,  his  brother,  with  an  s 
and  a  z,  and  George  and  Jonathan,  also 
brothers,  in  the  modern  way,  with  one  z. 
The  Sewall  deed  of  1698  is  the  first  in 
which  it  is  spelled  in  this  way,  but  the  in- 
dorsement on  the  back  has  Hazard  with  a 
double  s.  After  studying  these  deeds,  it 
seems   proper  to  find  that  in  his  will  the 

^  Updike,  History  of  the  A^arraga?isett  Church,  p.  274. 


DEATH   OF   THOMAS  HAZARD        23 

aged  father  leaves  the  sons  five  shillings 
each,  "they  having  all  and  each  of  them 
received  their  portion  already."  The  pre- 
amble to  this  will  is  touching,  in  which  the 
testator  declares  that  he  is  "  Ancient  and 
Unwell,  but  of  sound  mind  and  Memory, 
thanks  be  given  to  God,"  and  disposes  of 
"such  Worldly  Eftate  Wherewith  it  hath 
pleafed  God  to  blefs  me  in  this  Life."^  It 
was  a  very  considerable  estate,  given  to 
grandchildren  and  the  children  of  grand- 
children, with  his  eldest  son  Robert  as  ex- 
ecutor and  residuary  legatee.  It  was  signed 
on  the  12th  of  November,  1746,  with  a  very 
tremulous  and  feeble  T,  and  one  is  hardly 
surprised  to  see  that  it  was  proved  on  the 
27th  of  the  same  month,  a  fortnight  later. 
The  inventory  of  the  will  was  to  the  amount 
o^  ;^3745  ^^'  9^-  i^  the  depreciated  cur- 
rency. It  was  contested  by  two  of  the  grand- 
sons, and  appealed  to  the  Governor  and 
Council  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island,  who 
dismissed  the  protest,  and  confirmed  the 
will,  which  is  recorded  by  his  grandson 
Thomas,  town  clerk  that  3^ear  (i  746).  There 
is  only  one  other  mention  of  this  Thomas 
of    the    T.      In    1762    the   same  grandson 

^  See  Appendix,  Will  of  Thomas  Hazard. 


24  COLLEGE    TOM 

makes  a  "  Regiftor  of  Death."     The  record 
reads :  — 

"My  Grandfather,  Tho'  Hazard  De- 
parted this  Life  y^  21st  day  of  y^  month 
call'd  November  in  the  year  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  forty-six  aged  88  or  89 
years.  This  account  taken  from  a  memo- 
randum found  amongft  my  Father's  Pa- 
pers after  his  Death. 

(Signed)  Thomas  Hazard, 

fon  of  Rob^  dec'd." 
Thomas  Hazard  had  seen  great  changes. 
Where  the  country  was  once  "stony  and 
full  of  Indians,"  great  farms  and  cattle 
ranges  had  been  established.  The  preach- 
ing of  George  Fox  had  borne  fruit  in  the 
flourishing  meeting  held  regularly  on  Tower 
Hill.  The  "orthodox  person  "  provided  for 
on  the  Pettaquamscut  foundation  was  settled, 
and  had  become  a  centre  of  influence.  The 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel 
in  Foreign  Parts,  after  several  attempts 
finally  sent  Dr.  McSparran,  the  delightful 
Irish  divine,  so  dear  to  the  hearts  of  his 
people.  He  found  "  a  field  full  of  briers 
and  thorns  and  noxious  weeds,"  he  writes, 
"  that  were  all  to  be  eradicated  before  I 
could  implant  in  them  the  simplicity  of  the 


CONDITION  OF  NARRAGANSETT       25 

truth."  ^  He  complains  that  there  are  "  Qua- 
kers, Anabaptists  of  four  sorts,  Indepen- 
dents," and  that  "  here  Hberty  of  conscience 
is  carried  to  an  irreligious  extreme."^  The 
Huguenot  refugees  had  left  their  impress 
upon  the  country  also.  Gabriel  Bernon, 
the  most  famous  of  those  who  came  to 
Rhode  Island  after  the  revocation  of  the 
Edict  of  Nantes,  himself  lived  here  for 
years.  But  the  chief  stimulus  to  the  intel- 
lectual life  of  the  time  was  the  visit  of 
Berkeley.  The  two  years  of  his  stay  in 
Newport  mark  a  golden  era  in  the  spirit- 
ual life  of  Rhode  Island.^  Newport  was  the 
natural  metropolis  of  Narragansett,  and  the 
good  dean  himself  came  to  Narragansett, 
to  the  "  Continent,"  as  he  calls  it.  The 
rough  pioneer  days  were  passed,  and  a  time 
of  pastoral  plenty  begun.  The  slave  trade 
furnished  the  laborers  for  the  great  farms ; 
ships  sailed  from  Newport  to  the  Guinea 
coast,  and  in  a  few  instances  brought  their 
wretched  captives  to  the  Narragansett  shore. 
The  face  of  the  natural  world  has  changed 

1  Updike,  Appendix,  America  Dissected,  p.  511. 
"  Ibid.,  p.  514. 

^  Foster,  Some  Rhode  Island  Contributions  to   the  In- 
tellectual Life  of  the  Last  Century. 


26  COLLEGE    TOM 

but  little ;  the  Pettaquamscut  still  takes  its 
shining  way  to  the  sea,  and  though  the  Sau- 
gatucket  turns  mill  wheels,  it  still  bounds 
the  lands  as  described  in  the  old  deeds  of 
purchase.  And  among  the  men  who  lived 
here  in  their  absolute  independence,  freed 
even  from  the  control  of  the  minister,  the 
growth  of  strong  character  and  sterling  vir- 
tues was  fostered.  The  individualism  may 
have  been  excessive,  as  in  all  small  self-gov- 
erning communities.  Each  man  was  truly 
a  law  to  himself,  but  in  listening  to  "their 
own  teacher  in  themselves,"  which  George 
Fox  tried  to  make  audible  to  each  soul,  there 
were  men  who  in  this  liberal  atmosphere 
rose  to  heights  of  heroic  action. 


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CHAPTER  11. 

Life  in  Narragansett.  Robert  Hazard's  Provision  for  his 
Wife.  Thomas  Hazard  goes  to  New  Haven  College.  His 
Marriage  to  Elizabeth  Robinson.     His  Homestead. 

The  writers  of  the  early  history  of  the 
Narragansett  Country  all  unite  in  declaring 
it  a  favored  land,  if  not  literally  flowing  with 
milk  and  honey,  at  least  with  abundance  of 
milk,  and  rich  in  corn  and  all  the  products 
of  a  kindly  soil.  The  grass  was  said  to  be 
the  richest  ever  known,  the  fields  the  most 
fertile ;  one  of  the  enthusiastic  sons  of  the 
country  calls  it  the  fabled  Atlantis,  the  fit 
home  of  the  gods.  And  indeed  the  land 
is  a  fair  land,  diversified  by  hill  and  dale, 
the  smiling  landscape  lit  by  shining  lakes, 
and  every  extended  prospect  taking  in  the 
wide  blue  horizon  of  the  bluest  of  oceans. 
Boston  Neck  lying  between  the  Pettaquam- 
scut  and  the  sea  was  the  most  fertile  soil, 
and  the  earliest  settled  by  the  Pettaquam- 
scut  purchasers.  The  corn  of  the  Indians 
was  excellent,  even  with  the  rude  husbandry 
of  the  squaws,  and  English  planters  soon 


28  COLLEGE   TOM 

raised  enormous  crops  from  the  practically 
virgin  soil.  At  the  beginning  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  the  country  was  taken  up  by 
great  farmers  working  their  farms  with  slave 
labor,  either  Indian,  or  negro,  or  both,  and 
living  the  life  of  English  squires.  Their 
books  and  their  tea  came  to  them  from 
England  direct  to  Newport,  chocolat  and 
spices  as  well,  while  the  West  Indies  fur- 
nished sugar  and  molasses,  with  the  good 
rum  so  much  in  demand,  and  occasional 
"  oringes  and  lemmonds."  These  apart, 
almost  all  the  necessities  of  life  were  sup- 
plied by  the  great  farms,  beef,  veal,  pork, 
and  "  dung-hill  fowles,"  corn,  potatoes  and 
onions,  and  wool  and  flax  for  the  war/led 
sarge,  linning,  and  caliminco.  A  life  of 
comparative  ease  gave  ample  time  for  plea- 
sant social  intercourse.  England  was  dear 
to  the  hearts  of  her  sons,  and  the  pleasant 
English  ways  of  sports  and  hunting  were 
adhered  to.  If  we  may  believe  the  tales 
and  traditions  which  have  come  down  to  us, 
the  life  was  of  idyllic  freshness  and  simpli- 
city. Peopled  as  Rhode  Island  was  by  come- 
outers,  the  most  liberal  of  the  liberal,  the 
southern  portion  particularly  was  famous  for 
men  of   pronounced  views,  and    energy  of 


FAMILY  TIES  29 

character.  The  families  were  bound  to- 
gether by  ties  of  blood  or  marriage,  the  wel- 
fare of  one  intimately  concerned  all,  and  in 
times  of  festivity  the  whole  country-side 
joined  in  the  jollity,  irrespective  of  church 
or  creed.  Especially  was  this  the  case  at  a 
wedding  in  one  of  the  leading  families.  Up 
from  Point  Judith,  through  the  bridle-path 
that  led  from  one  great  farm  to  another,  di- 
vided by  stone  walls  and  heavy  gates,  came 
the  ladies  in  their  camblitt  cloaks,  and  the 
gentlemen  in  broadcloth  and  britches,  with 
silver  shoe  and  knee  buckles,  mounted  on 
the  Narragansett  pacers  of  famous  memory. 
Colored  slaves  attended  them  to  open  the 
gates  and  wait  upon  them.  From  Boston 
Neck  the  gentry  gathered,  and  from  Little 
Rest,  and  the  farms  of  Matunuc.  Toward 
Tower  Hill  they  took  their  way,  where, 
until  the  middle  of  the  century,  the  court 
house  dominated  the  village,  for  whether  in 
Church  or  Meeting  it  was  on  the  high  ridge 
overlooking  the  bay  that  the  place  of  assem- 
bly was. 

In  May,  1742,  on  the  twenty-seventh  day, 
a  most  notable  gathering  of  this  kind  took 
place,  in  the  old  Quaker  meeting-house,  on 
the  southern  spur  of  Tower  Hill.     The  oc- 


30  COLLEGE   TOM 

casion  was  indeed  auspicious,  for  Thomas 
Hazard,  eldest  son  and  heir  of  Robert,  was 
to  marry  Elizabeth  Robinson,  eldest  daugh- 
ter of  that  William  who  afterwards  was 
deputy-governor  of  the  State.  On  the  fourth 
of  the  same  month  (May,  1742),  Thomas 
Hazard  had  been  admitted  a  freeman  of  the 
colony,  presumably  upon  arriving  of  age, 
though  September  15,  1720,  is  the  date  of  his 
birth,  which  would  make  him  over  twenty- 
one  years  old.  As  the  eldest  son  of  his 
father  he  was  a  freeman  upon  attaining  his 
majority,  without  the  property  qualifications 
necessary  for  younger  sons. 

Robert  Hazard,  his  father,  great-grandson 
of  the  first  immigrant,  is  described  as  "of 
Boston  Neck,  gentleman."  He  was  one  of 
the  very  large  owners  of  property  in  Narra- 
gansett,  and  it  is  told  of  him  by  his  great- 
grandson,  Isaac  Peace  Hazard,  on  the  author- 
ity of  his  grandmother,  that  he  had  "  twelve 
negro  women  as  dairy  women,  each  of  whom 
had  a  girl  to  assist  her,  making  from  twelve 
to  twenty-four  cheeses  a  day  .  .  .  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  cows  being  about  the  number 
he  generally  kept.  ...  He  kept  about  four 
thousand  sheep,  manufacturing  most  of  the 
clothing,    both   woolen  and   linen,   for   his 


ROBERT  HAZARD  31 

household,  which  must  have  been  very 
large,  as  I  have  heard  my  grandmother  say 
that  after  he  partially  retired  from  his  ex- 
tensive farming  operations,  or  curtailed 
them  by  giving  up  part  of  his  lands  to  his 
children,  he  congratulated  his  family  and 
friends  on  the  small  number  to  which  he 
had  reduced  his  household  for  the  coming 
winter,  being  only  seventy  in  parlor  and 
kitchen."  ^  He  took  an  interest  in  public 
affairs,  and  was  a  deputy  to  the  general  as- 
sembly from  South  Kingstown  in  1734,  '35 
and  '36,  and  again  in  1738  and  '39.  In  1756 
he  was  named  first  of  a  committee  appointed 
by  the  general  assembly  to  run  a  dividing 
line  between  South  Kingstown  and  Exeter, 
and  reported  the  following  year.^ 

From  his  will,  dated  in  1 745  (but  not  exe- 
cuted) a  good  idea  of  the  methods  of  liv- 
ing can  be  gained.  He  first  provides  for 
his  "  Dearly  beloved  wife,"  and  mentions 
exactly  what  she  is  to  have :  fifty  pounds  a 
year,  "  four  cows  to  be  kept  summer  and 
and  winter  yearly  and  every  year,"  a  Negro 
woman  named  Phebee,  "  one  Rideing  Mare, 
Such  a  one  as  She  Shall  Chuse  Out  of  all  my 

^  Updike,  History  of  the  N^arragansett  Church,  p.  181. 
2  R.  I.  C.  R.,  vol.  V.  p.  526. 


32  COLLEGE    TOM 

Jades,  with  a  new  Saddle  and  new  Bridle." 
She  was  to  have  an  allowance  of  wood,  beef, 
and  pork  yearly,  the  "  beef  to  be  Killed 
and  Drefsed,  and  brought  to  her  into  her 
houfe ;  "  she  was  given  "  Six  Dung  -  hill 
fowl,"  and  "  fix  Geese  with  the  privilege  of 
raifing  what  Increase  She  Can,  but  Shall  put 
of  (off)  all  of  them  to  Six  by  the  laft  of  Jan- 
uary yearly."  Her  furniture  was  to  consist 
of  one  feather-bed,  with  six  chairs,  "  two  Iron 
pots  one  brass  Kettle,  two  pair  of  Pott-hooks, 
two  Trammels,"  various  pewter  dishes  and 
platters,  some  large,  some  "  middling  size," 
pewter  Basons,  and  silver  spoons.  One  piece 
of  Camblitt  was  also  given  "  Saving  so  much 
of  it  as  I  give  to  my  Daughter  Mary  to  Make 
her  a  Cloak ;  "  of  linen  the  piece  "  called  the 
fine  piece,"  also  a  piece  of  fine  worsted  cloth, 
with  forty  pounds  of  wool  yearly,  and  a 
"  Linnen  wheel,  and  a  Woollen  Wheel." 
She  was  to  have  two  rooms,  "  one  a  fire 
Room,  the  other  a  Bed  room  Such  as  She 
Shall  Chufe  in  either  of  my  two  Houfes," 
and  the  "  Improvement  of  a  quarter  of  an 
Acre  of  Land  where  She  Shall  Chufe  it 
to  be  Well  fenced  for  her  Ufe  yearly." 
One  wonders  if  this  good  dame  Hazard 
enjoyed  her   garden,  that  this  is  carefully 


COLLEGE    TOM'S  EDUCATION  33 

mentioned  for  her.  Andirons,  fire-shovel, 
and  warming-pan  are  also  given  her;  the 
furnishing  seems  to  have  been  very  com- 
plete. She  was  Sarah  Borden,  the  mother 
of  three  sons  and  two  daughters.  Thomas, 
as  the  eldest,  by  the  English  custom  which 
prevailed  in  this  part  of  New  England,  was 
the  chief  inheritor  of  the  estates,  and  is 
named  as  the  executor  of  the  will.  To  his 
care  his  mother  was  left,  and  though  this 
will  was  destroyed,  long  after  entries  in 
his  note-book  occur  showing  the  faithful- 
ness with  which  his  mother's  cows  were 
kept. 

In  a  household  thus  plentifully  provided, 
born  the  inheritor  of  large  acres,  Thomas 
Hazard  grew  to  manhood.  He  went  to 
New  Haven  College  for  several  terms,  and 
from  that  fact  derived  the  sobriquet  of 
"  College  Tom."  The  Yale  records  of  ad- 
mission previous  to  1743  no  longer  exist. 
The  College  had  had  a  troubled  existence 
since  1 701,  when  its  charter  was  obtained, 
and  not  till  the  administration  of  President 
Clapp  began  in  1739-40  did  it  enter  upon 
its  career  of  prosperity.  This  is  the  man  of 
whom  Dr.  McSparran  writes,  in  speaking  of 
the  college   at   New  Haven :   "  The   Presi- 


34  COLLEGE    TOM 

dent,  Mr.  Thomas  Clap,  was  my  scholar 
when  I  came  first  into  these  parts,  and  on 
all  occasions,  gratefully  acknowledges  his 
receiving  the  first  rudiments  of  his  learn- 
ing from  me,  who,  by  the  way,  have  not  but 
a  modicum  to  boast  of  myself."^  As  Dr. 
McSparran  arrived  in  1721,  this  fixes  the 
date  approximately,  and  the  young  student 
was  doubtless  known  to  Robert  Hazard. 
For  this  reason  it  appears  probable  that  his 
son  was  sent  to  New  Haven  when  Dr. 
Clapp  took  the  presidency. 

Thomas  Hazard's  father  had  had  much  to 
do  with  the  law  in  the  famous  case  of  the  Min- 
isterial Farm  litigation,  and  intended  him  for 
a  lawyer.  Wilkins  Updike,  Esq.,  who  knew 
his  sons,  says  of  him,  "  having  been  early 
indoctrinated  in  the  faith  of  the  Quakers, 
he  became  conscientious  respecting  col- 
lege honors,  and  left  the  institution  before 
the  regular  period  of  conferring  degrees."  ^ 
His  training  in  the  law  stood  him  in  good 
stead  all  his  life,  and  his  descendants  still 
have  some  of  the  law  books  bequeathed  to 
him  by  his  father.     His   Latin  treatise   on 

^  History  of  the  Narragansett  Church.    America  Dis- 
sected, p.  506. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  322. 


MARRIAGE   CEREMONY  35 

Greek  grammar,  —  for  he  had  to  study  his 
Greek  through  the  Latin,  —  and  his  Greek 
Testament,  inscribed  "  Thomas  Hazard 
Ejus  Liber','  also  exist. 

He  is  described  as  being  very  handsome, 
over  six  feet  tall,  of  great  physical  strength, 
and,  according  to  contemporary  evidence, 
came  nearest  to  the  standard  of  a  truly 
noble  man  of  any  of  the  time/ 

On  this  May  day  in  1742,  his  wedding 
took  place  in  "a  public  assembly  of  the 
people  of  God,  called  Quakers,  in  South 
Kingstown."  The  old  meeting-house  is 
long  since  gone,  but  the  mouse-eaten  yellow 
certificate  remains  to  show  how  great  a 
festivity  it  was  when  the  young  Thomas 
Hafsard,  as  he  signs  his  name,  took  "this,  my 
friend,  Elizabeth  Robinson  to  be  my  Wife." 
Underneath  the  signatures  of  the  bride  and 
groom  comes  first  Thomas  Hafsard,  the 
aged  grandfather,  who  had  still  five  years 
of  life  to  live.  Then  Robert  Hafzard  his 
son,  the  father  of  the  groom,  signs,  followed 
by  the  bride's  father,  William  Robinson, 
called  afterward  Governor  Robinson,  — 
a  man  of  parts  and  property.  William 
Browne  follows,  and  then  two  Robert  Haz- 

^  History  of  the  Narragansett  C/turch,  p.  326. 


36  COLLEGE    TOM 

ards,  one  of  whom  spells  his  name  in  the 
modern  way,  the  other  with  a  double  s. 
They  were  Governor  Robert,  own  cousin  of 
the  father  of  the  groom,  and  Doctor  Robert ; 
the  Governor  spelling  his  name  with 
the  double  s,  for  Esther  Haffard,  his  wife, 
called  Queen  Esther,  is  also  there.  She 
was  a  woman  of  great  force  of  character. 
In  a  lawsuit  about  her  husband's  property 
after  his  death  she  was  by  courtesy  al- 
lowed a  seat  beside  the  judges,  where  a 
quick  repartee  of  hers  overthrew  the  argu- 
ments of  the  opposing  counsel,  and  won 
her  case.  Stephen  Champlin,  who  married 
Mary  Hazard,  a  sister  of  the  groom,  was 
there,  and  John  Easton,  an  uncle  by  mar- 
riage. Rowland  Robinfon  signs  boldly,  who 
then  became  the  brother-in-law  of  Thomas 
Hazard.  He  afterward  became  famous  for 
his  cruel  opposition  to  the  marriage  of  his 
daughter,  the  beautiful  Hannah,  but  now 
was  a  gay  young  gentleman,  very  handsome 
and  courageous,  whose  own  wedding  to 
Anstis  Gardner  had  been  celebrated  only 
the  year  before.  William  Potter,  Thomas 
Brown,  a  justice  later,  and  perhaps  then, 
Stephen  Mumford  and  Jos.  Hamond,  Jr., 
complete  the  list  of  most  honored  guests. 


THE   WEDDING  GUESTS  37 

The  wives  of  these  worthies  were  many  of 
them  present.  Three  Mary  Hazards  were 
there,  with  Abigail  Hazard.  "  Queen  Es- 
ther," from  her  fine  carriage  and  strong 
character,  we  can  imagine  dominating  the 
group  of  women.  Lucy  Mumford  and 
Hannah  Shearman  were  there,  and  Isaac 
and  Patience  Bull.  Four  of  the  Rodmans, 
Thomas  Junior,  William,  Benjamin,  and 
Samuel  were  present,  and  the  John  Hand- 
son  who  witnessed  the  will  of  the  aged 
grandfather  some  years  later.  Peckham, 
Knowles,  Greene,  and  Dyre  are  some  of 
the  other  names,  with  Sheffield,  Case,  and 
Battey.  Updike  and  all  the  writers  on 
Narragansett  dwell  on  the  great  hospitality 
of  the  country.  Here  was  an  eldest  son, 
handsome,  well  educated,  and  just  of  age, 
making  a  most  suitable  marriage,  and  we 
can  imagine  the  festivities  of  both  fami- 
lies, in  spite  of  Quaker  traditions.  At  the 
wedding  feast  which  followed,  William 
Robinson  is  reported  to  have  said,  "  This 
day  by  the  marriage  of  my  daughter  to 
Thomas  Hazard  I  have  ennobled  my 
family."  ^  The  narrator  of  this  saying  adds 
that   as   the   families  were  of   equal   birth 

1  T.  R.  Yi2^zxd.^  Recollections  of  Olden  Times,  p.  109. 


38  COLLEGE    TOM 

and  position,  it  was  a  personal  tribute  to 
the  worth  of  the  young  bridegroom.  At  that 
early  age  he  seems  to  have  given  proofs  of 
the  large  mindedness  and  nobility  of  char- 
acter for  which  he  was  afterwards  distin- 
guished. 

In  accordance  with  the  custom  of  the 
times  he  probably  took  his  young  bride 
home  to  his  father's  house.  There  is  little 
remaining  among  his  papers  to  show  what 
happened  in  the  next  few  years.  Governor 
Robinson  sends  him  the  following  note  the 
next  year.  The  somewhat  regal  method  of 
summoning  the  young  man  to  "  our  Houfe" 
consorts  well  with  the  finished  handwriting. 
Love:  Son 

These  are  to  defire  you  to  come  to  our 
Houfe  tomorrow  morning  early  as  you 
pleafe  to  take  home  fifty  sheep  which  I 
have  drawn  off  for  you  if  you  will  accept 
of  them  from  y'  Love :  ffather  in  Law 

W'"  Robinson. 
March  y^  22^  1742/3 
(Addressed) 

To  Thomas  Hazard 
Son  of  Rob^ 
at 

S°  Kingstown 
Thefe 


I'-iK  ^^'*~>c^ 


tv     '^ 


# 


^ 


■s^ 


^ 


'^^>^'I- 


^3, 


THE  HOMESTEAD  FARM  39 

(Endorsed) 

Crop  the  right  Ear  and  a  gad  under  it 

and  a  gad  under  the  Left  Ear. 

So  the  sheep  were  doubtless  accepted. 

In  1744,  Robert  Hazard  makes  him  a 
deed  of  gift  of  "  ff orty  acres  "  on  Tower 
Hill,  bounded  westerly  on  the  high  road,  the 
consideration  being  love  and  affection. 
Here  it  was  that  Thomas  Hazard  lived  and 
died.  The  farm  commands  a  fine  view  of 
the  bay,  with  Beaver  Tail  and  Newport  ly- 
ing in  the  distance,  and  to  the  south  Point 
Judith  stretching  into  the  sea.  The  house 
stood  some  distance  back  from  the  high 
road,  on  the  brow  of  the  hill.  Within  a  few 
years  the  chimney  was  standing ;  now  all  has 
fallen,  and  in  1892  a  great-great-grandson 
removed  the  door-steps  of  single  granite 
stones  which  were  the  last  remaining  relic 
of  the  original  house,  and  has  piously  placed 
them  in  a  safe  and  honorable  position,  mute 
witnesses  of  the  past. 

In  this  house  the  children  were  born ; 
Sarah,  the  only  daughter,  in  1747,  who 
only  lived  a  few  years,  and  four  sons.  Rob- 
ert, the  eldest,  was  born  in  1753;  then 
a  baby  named  Thomas,  who  lived  four 
months;  and  two  years  later  a  third  son 


40  COLLEGE    TOM 

was  named  Thomas,  born  in  1758.  This 
was  the  Thomas  afterward  called  Bedford 
Tom,  because  he  went  to  New  Bedford 
and  became  a  merchant,  and  later  to  New 
York,  where  he  was  largely  engaged  in  busi- 
ness. Some  of  his  descendants  are  well- 
known  men.^  In  1763  the  youngest  son 
was  born  and  named  Rowland  after  his 
uncle  Rowland  Robinson.  He  alone  of  the 
three  sons  who  grew  to  manhood  has  left 
descendants  in  Narragansett.  His  eldest 
brother  went  to  Ferrisburg,  Vermont,  and 
the  second  to  New  York  as  just  mentioned. 
This  Rowland  had  five  sons,  but  of  the 
three  who  married,  only  his  son  Rowland 
remained  in  Narragansett.  So  that  the 
papers  which  had  come  down  from  the  sev- 
enteenth century  in  the  oldest  branch  of  the 
family  all  remained  in  the  possession  of  the 
son  who  stayed  at  home.  Many  of  them  had 
not  been  opened  since  1827,  when  they 
were  sorted  and  dated  by  Rowland  Hazard, 
until  1889,  when  his  great-granddaughter 
with  reverent  touch  loosened  the  old  fas- 
tenings, and  spread  them  to  the  light.  The 
deeds  of  gift  or  of  purchase,  the  wills,  the 

^Abram   Barker,   Esq,   father  of   Wharton  Barker,   of 
Philadelphia,  is  his  grandson. 


THE  HAZARD   PAPERS  4I 

accounts  and  memorandums,  of  past  gener- 
ations appeared,  all  the  documents  pertain- 
ing to  the  things  of  this  life,  once  lived  so 
much  as  we  live,  the  husks  and  externals 
left  behind  by  the  "spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect." 

It  is  from  these  papers,  stained  with 
damp,  and  cracking  in  the  folds,  that  we 
can  gather  some  conception  of  the  life  that 
Thomas  Hazard  son  of  Robert  lived,  of 
his  farming,  of  his  buying  and  selling,  of 
his  relations  to  his  family,  and  of  his  place 
in  Meeting,  and  glean  inspiration  for  our- 
selves from  the  way  he  served  his  day  and 
generation. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Thomas  Hazard's  Awakening  to  the  Evils  of  Slavery.  The 
Teaching  of  Dean  Berkeley  on  the  Subject.  Collision 
with  his  Father. 

An  interesting  story  of  the  manner  in 
which  Thomas  Hazard  became  awakened 
to  the  evils  of  slavery  was  told  by  all  of  his 
grandsons.  I  have  heard  it  repeatedly  from 
the  lips  of  my  grandfather,  substantially  as 
his  older  brother,  Isaac  Peace  Hazard,  has 
related  it  in  the  "  History  of  the  Narra- 
gansett  Church."^     About  the  time  of  his  -J 

marriage,  his  father  wished  to  establish  him  | 

upon  a  farm  of  suitable  size,  and  give  him  ' 

enough  slaves  to  work  it  properly.     In  stock-  t 

ing  the  farm,  young  Thomas   Hazard  was  f 

sent   into    Connecticut,    to   an  old   deacon  | 

living  near  New  London,  in  North  Ston- 
ington,  to  buy  cattle.  He  arrived  Saturday 
afternoon,  and  knowing  the  strictness  of  the 
Connecticut  Sunday  laws,  proposed  to  stay 
at  an  inn.  But  his  father's  friend,  happen- 
1  Pages  322-25. 


A   MEMORABLE  SUNDAY  43 

ing  to  come  to  the  village,  insisted  upon 
taking  him  home  with  him  for  the  Sabbath. 
They  naturally  fell  into  the  religious  dis- 
cussion so  common  in  that  day,  especially  as 
Connecticut  gave  Rhode  Island  very  little 
credit  for  having  any  religion  at  all.  At 
this  point  my  grandfather  used  to  inter- 
polate a  story  of  later  date  of  a  small  boy 
who  was  taken  from  his  Rhode  Island  home 
to  visit  relatives  in  Connecticut,  and  put 
through  his  catechism  by  the  head  of  the 
house.  "  How  many  Gods  are  there  ?  "  he 
was  solemnly  asked.  "  There  ain't  e'er  a 
one  in  Rhode  Island  !  "  he  promptly  replied. 
In  contrast  with  this,  the  story  of  the  vis- 
iting Connecticut  boy  was  told,  who  was 
asked  the  question,  "  What  state  do  you 
live  in  ?  "  "  State  of  sin  and  misery,  sir," 
was  the  meek  and  immediate  answer. 
With  such  illustrations  of  the  feeling  preva- 
lent between  the  two  sections  of  country, 
and  knowing  the  controversial  spirit  of  the 
times,  we  can  imagine  the  long  talks  of 
that  Sunday  ever  memorable  in  the  life  of 
Thomas  Hazard.  Finally  after  discussing 
various  sects,  Quakerism  was  mentioned, 
on  which  the  Deacon  exclaimed,  "  Qua- 
kers !  they  are  not  Christian   People."     As 


44  COLLEGE    TOM 

Thomas  Hazard  was  lately  from  college, 
and  was  remarkable  for  his  aro^umentative 
powers,  and  had  given  some  study  to  the 
subject,  he  thought  himself  able  to  answer 
all  the  usual  objections  to  the  Society  of 
Friends.  But  instead  of  advancing  these, 
to  his  surprise  the  deacon  said,  "  They  hold 
their  fellow-men  in  slavery."  He  was  com- 
pletely silenced,  and  from  that  moment 
began  to  turn  his  thoughts  toward  the  ab- 
olition of  slavery.  He  informed  his  father 
upon  his  return  of  his  change  of  views,  and 
his  intention  of  cultivating  his  farm  by  free 
labor. 

King's  County  —  now  Washington  —  had, 
about  1730,  a  thousand  slaves,-^  who  were 
divided  among  the  great  farmers.  Robert 
Hazard  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the 
largest  slave-owners  in  New  England,  and 
saw  that  his  son's  views  if  carried  out  would 
ruin  himself  and  his  neisfhbors.  He  endeav- 
ored  to  dissuade  him  from  them,  and  finally 
threatened  to  disinherit  him.  Fully  expect- 
ing this,  Thomas  Hazard  persisted  in  what 
he  believed  to  be  his  duty,  and  began  to 
cultivate  his  farm  with  free  labor. 

They   were    indeed    revolutionary    ideas 

^  Updike,  p.  174. 


SLAVES  IN  NARRAGANSETT  45 

which  the  young  man  advanced.  His 
aged  grandfather  was  still  living,  who  had 
thought  it  no  sin  to  own  slaves,  and  the 
whole  prosperity  of  the  country  was  founded 
on  slave  labor.  All  the  friends  and  neigh- 
bors held  slaves,  and  two  connections  even 
imported  them.  Updike  mentions  Colonel 
Thomas  Hazard,  a  cousin  of  Robert  Haz- 
ard's, and  Rowland  Robinson,  College  Tom's 
brother-in-law,  as  importing  them.  On  the 
arrival  of  the  ship  at  the  South  Ferry,  Row- 
land Robinson  was  overcome  by  seeing  the 
distress  of  the  poor  creatures  as  they  landed. 
He  is  said  to  have  wept  bitterly,  and  taken 
home  all  of  his  share  of  the  venture,  twenty- 
eight  poor  souls,  treating  them  with  great 
kindness,  and  refusing  to  sell  any  of  them. 
One  woman  of  great  strength  of  character 
called  Abigail,  afterward  at  her  own  request 
went  back  to  Guinea,  and  brought  over  her 
son,  Mr.  Robinson  being  at  the  expense  of 
the  voyage.  It  is  evident  that  the  evils  of 
slavery  were  as  light  as  possible,  and  that 
some  attempts  at  freeing  individual  slaves 
were  made  quite  early.  In  1729  an  act  was 
passed  relating  to  the  freeing  of  mulatto 
and  negro  slaves,  which  sets  forth  that 
"great  charge,  trouble,  and  inconveniences 


46  COLLEGE    TOM 

have  arisen  to  the  inhabitants  of  divers 
towns  in  this  Colony  by  the  manumit- 
ting and  setting  free  mulatto  and  negro 
slaves,"  for  the  remedy  of  which  it  was  en- 
acted that  a  "sufficient  security  be  given 
to  the  town  treasurer  of  the  town  or  place 
where  such  person  dwells,  in  a  valuable  sum 
of  not  less  than  ^loo,  to  secure  and  indem- 
nify the  town  or  place  from  all  charge  "  ^  in 
case  such  persons  become  unable  to  support 
themselves.  This  act  seems  to  imply  that 
there  were  some  unprincipled  masters,  who 
manumitted  their  slaves  only  when  they  be- 
came useless,  but  the  deposit  of  a  hundred 
pounds  each  made  manumission  an  expen- 
sive luxury. 

Dean  Berkeley,  who  came  from  Newport 
to  the  "  Continent,"  as  he  says,  on  several 
occasions  interested  himself  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  slaves.  He  found,  he  writes, 
"  an  erroneous  notion,  that  being  baptized 
is  inconsistent  with  a  state  of  slavery."^  In 
this  opinion  the  early  settlers  showed  the 
good  sense  and  logical  mind  for  which 
many  of  them  were  famous.  If  the  slaves 
were   really  chattels,  as    they   held,  it    was 

1  R.  I.  C.  Ji.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  415. 

2  Updike,  p.  177. 


BERKELEY  ON  SLAVERY  47 

surely  as  improper  to  baptize  them  as  it 
would  be  their  other  beasts  of  burden. 
Starting  from  their  premise  their  conclusion 
was  absolutely  correct.  But  the  good  Dean 
set  himself  to  enlighten  them.  "  To  un- 
decieve  them  in  this  particular,"  he  con- 
tinues, "which  had  too  much  weight,  it 
seemed  a  proper  step  if  the  opinion  of  His 
Majesty's  Attorney  and  Solicitor  General 
could  be  procured.  This  opinion  they 
cheerfully  sent  over,  signed  with  their  own 
hands ;  which  was  accordingly  printed  in 
Rhode  Island,  and  dispersed  throughout 
the  Plantations.  I  heartily  wish  it  may 
produce  the  intended  effect."^  The  So- 
ciety for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in 
Foreign  Parts  also  took  the  matter  in  hand, 
and  sent  over  an  address  on  the  subject. 
"  Let  me  beseech  you,"  a  sentence  reads, 
"  to  consider  them  not  merely  as  slaves,  but 
as  men  slaves  and  women  slaves,  who  have 
the  same  frame  and  faculties  as  yourselves, 
and  have  souls  capable  of  being  made  happy, 
and  reason  and  understanding  to  receive 
instruction  in  order  to  it." 

Dr.   McSparran  had  special  semces  for 
the  slaves,  and  special  hours  for  instructing 

^  Updike,  p.  176. 


48  COLLEGE    TOM 

them  in  the  catechism.  He  baptized  many, 
and  was  most  humane  and  liberal  in  his 
treatment  of  them.  With  his  example  before 
them,  and  the  teaching  of  the  church  on  the 
subject,  in  the  necessity  of  the  case  it  could 
not  have  been  long  before  the  falsity  of  the 
position  impressed  itself  strongly  on  some 
man.  And  the  man  came.  If  they  were 
chattels,  religious  instruction  was  useless ;  if 
they  had  souls,  freedom  was  their  right. 
Thomas  Hazard  was  one  of  the  best  edu- 
cated young  men  of  his  neighborhood.  Dr. 
McSparran  received  young  gentlemen,  after 
the  manner  of  his  day,  to  instruct  in  the 
classics,  and  it  seems  very  likely  that  Col- 
lege Tom's  training  previous  to  entering  the 
College  at  New  Haven  was  received  from 
this  learned  and  liberal  divine.  With  the 
tendency  of  the  age  it  is  also  probable  that 
much  attention  was  given  to  logic,  and  the 
exercise  of  the  reasoning  faculty,  so  that 
all  his  study  fitted  him  to  accept  a  conclu- 
sion which  he  had  honestly  arrived  at.  The 
old  deacon's  words  denouncing  Quakers, 
"  They  hold  their  fellow-men  in  slavery," 
said  to  him,  as  they  were  repeated  by  his 
grandsons,  with  an  impressive  solemnity, 
fell  into  the  ground  of  a  good  and  honest 


DIVERS  SECTS  49 

heart,  and  brought  forth  fruit  an  hundred- 
fold. 

Rhode  Island  early  proved  a  harbor  of 
refuge  for  the  persecuted  Quakers  of  Massa- 
chusetts, who  found  there  even  more  sever- 
ity exercised  toward  them  than  at  home. 
Dr.  McSparran  says  that  "  emissaries  of  that 
enthusiasm  were  dispatched  to  the  West  In- 
dies "  in  1654,  some  of  whom  visited  Rhode 
Island  later.  George  Fox  himself  preached 
in  Narragansett  on  his  journey  of  1771-73. 
Dr.  McSparran  speaks  of  "  the  power  and 
number  of  Quakers  in  this  Colony,"  and  be- 
wails the  "  heterodox  and  different  opinions 
in  religion,  that  were  found  in  this  little  cor- 
ner."^ "  Quakers,  Baptists,  Fanatics,  Ranters, 
Deists,  and  Infidels  swarm  in  that  part  of  the 
world,"  Mr.  Fayerweather  writes  in  1760.^ 
But  the  very  fact  of  this  freedom  of  individ- 
ual belief  promoted  the  growth  of  the  sturdy 
character,  and  self-reliance,  which  could 
brave  opposition  and  stand  firm  to  honest 
conviction.  It  does  not  seem  probable  that 
Robert  Hazard  was  a  devoted  Quaker,  or 
even  a  Quaker  at  all.  Neither  his  name 
nor  that  of  his  father  appear  in  the  Friends' 

1  Updike,  p.  511. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  469. 


50  COLLEGE    TOM 

records.  He  is  described  in  most  of  the 
deeds  referring  to  him,  and  mentioned  to 
the  King  in  council,  as  will  appear,  as  Rob- 
ert Hazard,  Gentleman  —  a  title  his  son  did 
not  use  and  one  not  consistent  with  "  plain- 
nefs."  If  he  considered  his  son's  religious 
opinions  extreme,  as  well  as  the  economic 
theories  he  was  advocating,  we  can  imagine 
the  double  exasperation  for  which  the  father 
considered  he  had  ample  grounds. 

The  exact  time  of  this  collision  is  a  little 
difficult  to  determine.  His  grandsons  used 
to  say  it  was  about  the  time  of  College 
Tom's  marriage,  which  took  place  in  1742. 
The  deed  of  gift  of  land  "  for  love  and 
affection "  from  Robert  Hazard  comes  in 
1744,  and  the  will  of  the  next  year  leaves 
the  eldest  son  residuary  legatee  and  sole  ex- 
ecutor. So  the  terms  on  which  father  and 
son  stood  must  still  have  been  good.  Isaac 
Peace  Hazard  says  College  Tom  was  a 
preacher  in  the  Society  of  Friends  for  forty 
years  before  his  death.  For  a  few  years 
previous  to  his  death  in  1798  he  was  very 
feeble,  and  this  general  statement  hardly  in- 
dicates more  than  that  he  began  to  preach 
somewhere  in  the  fifties.  The  will  of  1745 
is  carefully  written,  duly  witnessed,  entirely 


I 


COLLISION  WITH  HIS  FATHER  5 1 

complete  in  every  way  but  one.  It  seems 
to  have  a  dramatic  story  to  tell.  The  lower 
right-hand  corner,  on  which  the  signature 
was,  is  torn  off !  Was  this  mutilated  docu- 
ment used  as  a  final  resort  to  try  to  compel 
Thomas  Hazard  to  abandon  his  anti-slavery 
views  ?  However  it  may  be,  he  stood  the 
test,  and  it  is  gratifying  to  find  in  the  early 
fifties  entries  showing  that  harmonious  rela- 
tions were  again  established  with  his  father. 
Possibly  they  gave  up  trying  to  convince 
each  other,  and  each  went  his  own  way. 
Robert  Hazard  is  said  to  have  left  all  his 
slaves  free  by  his  will,^  a  statement  of  which 
I  have  copied.^  Further  investigation  shows 
this  to  be  erroneous.  Robert  Hazard  died 
on  — 

"Ye  20'^  of  ye  5'^  month  1762  at  about 
half  after  One  in  ye  Morning  ;  after  an 
illnefs  of  10  weeks,  4  days,  1 1  hours  which 
he  bore  with  a  becoming  patience,  Aged 
73  years."  ^ 

His  will  is  dated  March  11,  1762,  pro- 
bated May  27,  1762,  and  the  fact  that  Dr. 
Joseph    Torrey   was   one  of  the  witnesses 

1  Updike,  p.  325. 

^  Works  of  R.  G.  Hazard,  Biographical  Preface,  p.  v. 

8  Appendix,  A  Regiftor  of  Death. 


52  COLLEGE    TOM 

seems  to  imply  that  he  was  already  ill  when 
it  was  drawn.  To  his  wife  he  bequeaths 
"  my  Mulatto  Woman  called  Lydia  "  and  a 
mulatto  boy  Newport,  with  a  full  furnishing 
of  household  goods,  silver  spoons,  "  Pewter, 
Brass,  Iron,  and  Wooden  vessels  "  and  allow- 
ances of  produce  to  be  provided  yearly  by 
her  sons.  Seven  other  slaves  are  mentioned 
by  name  in  the  will,  and  given  to  his  wife 
and  children ;  but  it  is  noticeable  that  while 
slaves  are  given  to  his  sons  Jonathan  and 
Richard  and  to  both  daughters,  none  are 
given  to  Thomas.  The  latter  is  named  sole 
executor  and  is  ordered  to  sell  "  all  my  Cat- 
tle and  Horfes  not  herein  difpofed  of,  and  all 
my  Sheep  and  Hogs,  and  all  my  farming 
utenfils,  and  remainder  of  all  my  eftate  "  to 
pay  the  legacies,  and  to  divide  the  remain- 
der "  equally  among  my  sons  Thomas,  Jona- 
than, and  Richard."  ^ 

It  is  difficult  to  tell  what  became  of  the 
other  slaves,  as  no  inventory  of  the  estate  or 
deed  of  sale  can  now  be  found  in  the  South 
Kingstown  records.  Richard,  the  youngest 
son,  died  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  as 
his  father.  The  record  is  tenderly  made  by 
his  brother ;  he  — 

^  South  Kino-stoivn  Records. 


SLAVES  BEQUEATHED  BY  WILL        53 

"  Departed  this  life  on  ye  30'''  of  ye 
Ninth    month    Call'd   Septemb""  aged  31 
years,  10  month,  and  Ten  days.     He  died 
on  ye  5"'  day  of  ye  Week  about  38  minutes 
after  Four  in  ye  afternoon  after  an  Illnefs 
of  twenty  days  1762." 
This    young   man's    will    is    dated   only 
twelve  days  before  his  death,  and  the  inven- 
tory has  been  found,  showing  that   beside 
Cudjo,  Tom,  and  Peter,  bequeathed  him  by 
his  father,  he  had  five  other  slaves  to  dis- 
pose of,  two  men  and  three  women,  whose 
names  are  duly  given.^     It  therefore  seems 
probable  that  these  slaves  were  his  third  of 
his  father's  slaves,  which  would  give  fifteen 
slaves  not  mentioned  in  the  will  of  Robert 
Hazard,  making  twenty-four  the  number  he 
had  to  dispose  of.    They  were  evidently  not 
included  in  the  direction  for  sale  in  settling 
the  estate.     Indeed  the  condition  of  slavery 
seems  to  have  been  as  mild  as  possible  in 
Narragansett.     "You  are  greater  slaves  al- 
ready than  our  negroes,"  ^  Dr.  McSparran 
writes  to  his  Irish  cousin  in  1752.    It  seems 
to  have  been  a  kind  of  serfdom  rather  than 
absolute  slavery,  as   the  slaves  were  prac- 

^  South  Kingstown  Records. 
'^  Updike,  p.  530. 


54  COLLEGE    TOM 

tically  attached  to  the  soil.  To  the  Chris- 
tian name  as  time  went  on  the  master's  sur- 
name was  attached,  as  in  the  case  of  Dr. 
Torrey's  man  Cuff,  and  Ned  Watson,  about 
whom  Shepherd  Tom  tells  an  amusing  tale 
of  the  days  of  his  youth.  The  old  negro, 
accompanied  by  the  child,  on  one  occasion 
carried  a  bag  of  wet  clams  upon  his  back 
in  freezing  weather,  up  from  the  shore  to 
Tower  Hill.  To  the  little  boy's  great  de- 
light, a  long  icicle,  snowy  white,  gradually 
formed  on  the  skirt  of  the  negro's  short 
jacket,  making  a  parti-colored  demon,  stoop- 
ing under  his  burden.  On  being  asked  to 
take  his  turn  Cuff  Torrey  refused  to  carry 
the  clams  for  fear  of  being  decorated  in  like 
manner.^  To  this  day  the  good  names,  and 
often  the  charming  manners,  of  the  old  fam- 
ilies are  found  among  the  colored  people 
of  South  Kingstown.  Far  back  in  the  hill 
country  it  is  a  real  pleasure  to  be  saluted 
by  a  negro  of  pure  African  descent,  bearing 
the  name  of  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
of  the  Narragansett  families.  Watson,  Ol- 
ney,  Gardner,  and  Helme  are  all  repre- 
sented in  this  way.  There  may  be  Hazards, 
but  they  have  taken  no  prominent  part  in 

1  Rhode  ls\zn6.Jonny-Cake  Papers,  p.  221. 


THE  HEAD   OF  THE  FAMILY  55 

the  country  life.  It  is  most  probable  that  if 
they  took  surnames  at  all,  Thomas  Hazard, 
with  his  strong  feeling  on  the  subject,  would 
have  used  his  influence  to  give  them  a  name 
which  should  be  individual. 

However  he  and  his  father  differed  upon 
the  question  of  slavery,  it  is  evident  that  he 
was  trusted  with  the  settlement  of  the  es- 
tate, and  took  his  place  at  the  head  of  the 
family.  The  fatherless  son  of  Richard  found 
in  him  a  faithful  guardian,^  and  the  children 
of  his  sister  Mary  a  wise  and  peaceful  coun- 
selor.^ One  longs  for  some  adequate  por- 
trait of  him,  as  he  was  in  his  fresh  young 
manhood,  his  young  wife  at  his  side,  with 
the  world  lying  before  him,  and  seeking  to 
conquer  it  by  new  and  untried  efforts,  which 
the  elders  disapproved  of,  but  the  sincerity 
of  which  won  their  recognition  and  respect. 

^  Appendix,  Release  of  Guardianship. 
-  Appendix,  Affair  of  Stephen  Champlin. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Thomas  Hazard's  Account  Book.  Diffuse  Entries.  Rhode 
Island  Currency.  Horses.  Exchange  of  Produce  for 
them.  Shoeing  Horses.  Blacksmithing.  Roads.  "  Nailer 
Tom."  Oxen.  Carting.  Saddles.  Leather.  Tanning 
and  Currying.     Shoes. 

Account  books  unfortunately  were  not 
written  for  historical  purposes,  as  Mr.  John 
Fiske  justly  observes,  but  in  the  absence  of 
other  record  much  can  be  gathered  from 
the  book  of  Thomas  Hazard  "  fon  of  Rob- 
ert," with  entries  beginning  in  1750  and 
ending  in  1 790.  This  period  of  forty  years 
covers  the  most  active  part  of  his  life,  and 
from  this  book,  with  its  full  entries  and  per- 
sonal details ;  with  its  occasional  notes  still 
pinned  on  the  written  page,  a  very  good 
idea  can  be  srained  of  the  life  of  a  Narra- 
gansett  planter.  The  book  itself  is  a  folio 
volume,  eight  inches  wide  by  twelve  and 
a  half  inches  long,  and  nearly  an  inch  in 
thickness,  containing  two  hundred  pages. 

The  numbering  is  very  confused ;  it  runs 
smoothly  up  to  the  eighty-third  page,  when 


I 


THE  ACCOUNT  BOOK  $7 

the  next  is  suddenly  the  hundred  and  sixty- 
fifth.  From  that,  with  the  exception  that 
two  pages  are  numbered  alike,  it  runs  to 
two  hundred  and  thirty,  and  then,  as  if  con- 
vinced that  was  too  large  a  number,  drops  a 
hundred  off  and  begins  at  one  hundred  and 
thirty-one.  The  last  fifteen  pages  are  not 
numbered  at  all,  and  a  folio  sheet  of  four 
pages  is  inserted  bearing  entries  of  as  late 
a  date  as  1789.  The  cover  is  of  light  paste- 
board now  turned  a  dull  gray.  The  paper 
is  of  good  quality,  somewhat  yellow  with 
age,  and  the  inks  used  very  various,  some 
entries  showing  clear  and  black,  and  others 
almost  indecipherable.  It  is  ruled  by  hand, 
sometimes  in  lead  pencil,  for  £.  s.  and  ^., 
with  a  fourth  column  late  in  the  book 
marked  q'.  These  were  the  quarter  pence, 
or  farthings,  which  were  reckoned  with 
"  Lawful  money."  Each  page  is  headed : 
'*  S".  Kingstown  In  f  County  of  Kings 
County  &ct."  or  " In  y  Colony  of  Rhode 
Island  &ctr 

Opening  the  book  at  random  it  is  natural 
to  find  entries  of  various  persons  who  are 
indebted  to  Thomas  Hazard  for  cheese,  but- 
ter, milk,  beef,  lamb,  wool,  and  all  sorts  of 
farm  produce,  but  why  they  should  also  be 


58  COLLEGE    TOM 

indebted  for  shoe  buckles,  velvet,  skeins  of 
thread,  a  thimble,  and  other  articles  not  usu- 
ally found  on  a  Rhode  Island  farm  is  at  first 
difficult  to  determine.  A  little  further  study 
explains  it.  In  the  general  scarcity  of  cur- 
rency, money  seems  to  have  passed  through 
as  few  hands  as  possible.  Thus  Samson 
Will,  instead  of  being  paid  his  wages  in 
1750  is  entered  as  debtor  to  Thomas  Haz- 
ard for  "garlix,  cambric,  and  thread  of  J. 
Helme,"  who  was  the  storekeeper  at  Tower 
Hill,  later  a  judge,  and  a  man  of  much 
influence  in  the  country-side.  The  money 
apparently  passed  directly  to  Helme,  in  this 
case.  In  another  instance  one  payment 
discharged  several  debts.  John  Mash,  in 
1757,  is  debtor  "  To  thirty  shillings  in  Cafli 
Paid  to  Tho'  Sweet,  Blacksmith  ;  it  was  due 
from  John  Nichols  to  s'^  Sweet,  &  from 
John  Mash  to  s^  Nichols." 

A  whole  series  of  accounts  exist  which 
are  not  balanced  at  all  in  the  usual  way,  as 
in  the  case  of  relatives.  Latham  Clarke, 
College  Tom's  brother-in-law,  has  the  long- 
est of  these.  He  has  veal,  butter,  cheese, 
oxen  at  pasture,  etc.,  against  which  he  is 
credited  with  a  "  Felt  Hatt  for  Dick  at  ;^i, 
Cafteel  Sope,  Handkerchiefs  at  14  shillings, 


DIFFUSE  ENTRIES  59 

Callominco  at  i8  shillings,  Sugar,  Indigo, 
and  salt."  There  is  no  attempt  at  footing 
up,  but  at  the  end  of  the  page  "  Ballanced 
acco^'  with  Latham  Clarke,  February  the 
first  day,  Ann"  Dom'  one  thoufand  feven 
hundred  and  fifty,  1750."  Transactions  with 
•'  Father  Hazard  "  are  conducted  largely  by 
borrowing  and  lending,  as  in  1757  when 
"  Father  Hazard  had  eleven  Bushels  of 
Oats  of  me  to  Sow  for  which  he  is  to  re- 
turn eleven  Bushels  nex  year,"  and  entries 
of  Bushels  of  corn,  with  no  price  fixed,  "All 
Paid  by  my  Father." 

In  studying  this  record  of  the  life  of  the 
last  century  several  points  claim  the  reader's 
attention.  It  is  a  very  different  account 
book  from  any  of  to-day.  No  one  takes  the 
time  now  to  go  so  fully  into  details.  What 
talks  and  bargaining  are  indicated  in  this 
entry  of  February  28,  1754:  "  Thos.  Hazard 
of  Newport  D""  To  fifty-five  pounds  promised 
to  pay  me  in  Three  months  on  Swop  be- 
tween Two  Horses."  Is  a  sharp  bargain 
always  allowable  on  a  horse  trade  ?  for  fifty- 
five  pounds  seems  a  large  sum  to  pay  for  a 
horse,  to  say  nothing  of  paying  it  to  boot. 
This  brings  us  to  a  consideration  of  the  very 
high  prices,  apparently,  paid  for  everything, 


6o  COLLEGE    TOM 

until  we  remember  the  unfortunate  state  of 
Rhode  Island  currency.  In  1754,  £z  ^S-^- 
were  equal  to  one  Spanish  Milled  Dollar, 
that  is,  seventy-five  shillings  of  old  tenor 
bills  were  equal  to  six  shillings  silver  of  i6f 
cents,  or  one  silver  shilling  equal  to  twelve 
and  a  half  of  paper;  which  reduces  our  fifty- 
five  old  tenor  pounds  to  four  pounds,  eight 
shillings,  —  a  much  more  moderate  sum  to 
pay  "  on  Swop."  The  variability  of  the 
currency  throughout  the  book  has  its  own 
lesson.  Rhode  Island  issued  paper  money 
first  in  1 710.  Six  other  issues  followed 
between  that  date  and  1740,  when  the 
bills  outstanding  of  these  dates  began  to 
be  called  old  tenor.  The  apparently  high 
prices  throughout  the  book  must  be  dis- 
counted according  to  the  value  of  the  paper 
money,  which  evidently  caused  endless  trou- 
ble, and  brought  final  disaster.  Connecti- 
cut, New  Hampshire,  and  Massachusetts 
were  in  the  same  difficulty.  One  "  bank " 
was  issued  in  Rhode  Island,  to  redeem  its 
predecessor,  and  the  bills  were  to  be  "in 
value  equal  to  money."  After  1740,  the 
value  of  the  bills  was  to  equal  a  specified 
weiojht  of  Q:old  or  silver.  In  Rhode  Is- 
land  the  issues  of  1 740  were  at  6i-.  <^d.  per 


RHODE   ISLAND   CURRENCY 


6l 


ounce  in  silver,  or  ^5  per  ounce  in  gold.^ 
Though  at  the  same  time  it  took  twenty- 
seven  shilHngs  in  these  bills  to  equal  one 
ounce  in  silver/'^  they  soon  became  current 
at  the  rate  of  one  for  four  of  old  tenor. 
Hence  arose  endless  confusion.  In  1751,  a 
year  after  the  first  entries  in  the  account 
book,  the  value  of  a  Spanish  milled  dollar 


The  Spanish  Mill'd  Dollar. 

was  declared  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
June,  1763,  to  have  been  £2  ids.  As  this 
was  a  declaration  of  value  twelve  years  after 
the  fact,  made  for  the  use  of  courts  in  de- 
ciding the  many  difficult  cases  which  arose 
from  the  depreciated  currency,  it  was  of  no 
servdce  as  a  basis  of  value  to  the  struggling 


1  Weeden,  Economic  and  Social  History  of  A'ew  Eng- 
land, ch.  xiii.,  The  Period  of  Inflation. 

P-  55- 


2  R.  I.  Historical  Tracts,  No. 


62  COLLEGE    TOM 

accountant.  Beside  the  Spanish  dollars 
there  are  also  mentioned  in  the  book  Jo- 
hannes and  half  Johannes,  gold  pieces  of 
the  value  of  eight  Spanish  milled  dollars, 
and  pistareens,  and  half  pistareens. 

Such  were  the  difficulties  of  the  currency 
that  primitive  methods  of  exchange  had  to 
be  resorted  to.  In  Massachusetts  from  1720 
to  1723  the  treasury  accepted  beef,  pork, 
Indian  corn,  hides,  and  other  produce  at 
fixed  rates.^  In  Rhode  Island  it  does  not 
appear  to  have  come  to  such  a  pass,  but  in 
the  neighborhood  transactions  of  College 
Tom,  he  often  balances  his  accounts  in  this 
way  by  barter,  or  simply  enters  the  items 
and  leaves  them  unbalanced  entirely. 

We  have  seen  that  the  young  man  and 
his  beautiful  bride  —  for  the  Robinsons  are 
famous  for  their  beauty — started  their  house- 
keeping on  the  forty -acre  homestead,  sur- 
rounded by  the  land  of  Robert  Hazard, 
and  that  the  break  with  his  father  did  not 
come  till  after  1745.  Nor  could  the  breach 
between  them  have  endured  as  long  as 
tradition  asserts.  Thomas  Hazard  was  a 
peacemaker  on  more  than  one  occasion, 
and  his  friendly  relations  to  his  father  are 

^  Weeden,  Economic  and  Social  History  of  N.  E.,  cli.  xiii. 


A    HORSE   TRADE  ^l 

testified  to  by  various  entries  of  borrow- 
ing and  lending.  "  Father  Hazard  brought 
eleven  cows  to  keep"  at  pasture  in  1754. 
In  1750  College  Tom  buys  a  yoke  of  oxen 
at  ^140, —  though  the  pounds  sterling 
mark  is  out  of  place,  and  it  should  read 
current  money  of  New  England.  Most  of 
his  horses  were  probably  raised,  for  few 
were  bought.  A  three-year-old  in  1753  cost 
a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds ;  a  "  thirteen- 
year-old  Bay  mare  with  a  White  nofe  "  in 
'54  cost  seventy  pounds,  and  an  "  old  black 
Troting  mare,"  a  year  later,  only  fifty-five 
pounds.  A  few  others  were  bought,  one  in 
1 763,  a  black  mare,  at  two  hundred  and  forty- 
four  pounds ;  but  the  money  was  just  twice 
as  bad  as  in  1753,  the  ;^3  10^.  of  that  date 
being  equal  to  £']  in  1763,  and  both  only 
having  the  actual  value  of  one  Spanish 
milled  dollar.  In  1766  comes  a  curious 
transaction  in  horseflesh,  which  shows  very 
plainly  the  trouble  of  the  inflated  currency. 
Silver  had  risen  still  further,  so  that  a  dollar 
was  now  equal  to  eight  pounds. 

1766,  1 8th  6  mo.  George  Irejfh  To 
one  Dark  Coloured  Natural  pacing  Horfe 
with  some  White  in  his  Face,  at  fifty-five 
Silver  Spanifli    Mill''  Dollers.     I   am  to 


64  COLLEGE    TOM 

take  I  hoggshead  of  Molafses,  i  barrell  of 
Sugar  at  £']o,  old  Tenor  per  Hundred, 
the  Molaffes  at  the  value  of  36/ old  Tenor, 
a  Doller  being  confidered  at  the  Value  of 
Eight  Pounds  old  Tenor  the  Remain- 
der in  Tea  at  y*"  Rate  of  Eight  Pounds 
old  Ten'  and  in  Indigo  at  the  Rate  of 
Twelve  Pounds,  old  Tenor ;  to  have  one- 
half  of  y*  remainder  in  Tea,  &  the  other 
in  Indigo. 

This  was  evidently  a  Narragansett  pacer. 
The  fame  of  these  horses  is  perpetuated  by 
Updike,  and  all  the  writers  upon  early 
Narragansett.  They  were  in  great  demand 
for  export,  and  were  annually  sent  to  the 
West  Indies,  and  to  Virginia.  So  great 
was  their  value  that  finally  all  the  good 
mares  were  sold  from  out  the  country,  and 
the  old  fable  of  killing  the  goose  that  laid  the 
golden  ^go^  was  repeated  in  Narragansett. 
The  races  on  Little  Neck  beach,  now  called 
Narragansett  Pier  beach,  are  enthusiastically 
described  by  the  old  writers.  Dr.  McSpar- 
ran  says  he  "  saw  some  of  them  [the  horses] 
pace  a  mile  in  little  more  than  two  minutes, 
a  good  deal  less  than  three," -^  a  wide  mar- 
gin on  a  race   nowadays,  when  fractions  of 

1  America  Dissected,  Updike,  p.  514. 


SUPPLIES  HIS  NEIGHBORS  65 

a  second  are  reckoned.  They  had  great  en- 
durance, and  were  capable  of  carrying  heavy 
burdens  in  addition  to  their  rider,  and  many 
a  journey  to  Boston,  or  into  Connecticut,  did 
they  make.  This  was  a  valuable  animal,  for 
which  sugar,  molasses,  tea,  and  indigo  were 
exchanged.  Tea  is  first  mentioned  in  the 
account  book  in  1750,  when  it  cost  ;^3  \s. 
per  pound,  and  is  now  mentioned  in  1766 
at  £Z  in  the  highly  inflated  currency. 

In  this  year  the  accounts  begin  to  be 
kept  in  lawful  money,  as  well  as  old  tenor, 
but  the  habit  of  old  tenor  prices  seems  to 
have  been  so  strongly  fixed  that  often  both 
are  given,  and  the  lawful  money,  on  a  specie 
basis,  is  changed  first  into  old  tenor.  In 
1767  "  One  old  Horse  "  was  sold  to  Row- 
land Robinson,  for  7^3  15^.  lawful  money, 
for  which  one  hundred  pounds,  old  tenor, 
were  paid.  The  same  year  William  Cong- 
don,  son  of  Joseph,  is  debtor  — 

To  one  Bay  Horse  five  years  old  @ 
500  lbs.  &  one-half  Hundred  w*.  of  sugar, 
such  sugar  as  was  Set  at  8  Dollers  the 
Hundred,  clean  &  of  a  bright  colour. 
Getting  his  supplies  in  these  large  amounts. 
College  Tom  seems  to  have  in  turn  sup- 
plied   his    neighbors  in  smaller  quantities. 


66  COLLEGE    TOM 

The  following  letter  was  found  between  the 
leaves  containing  the  account  of  Jeremiah 
Willson  — 

January  y^  13  Day  1769 
freind  Thomas  Hafzard.  I  should  been 
at  your  houfe  before  Now  but  I  have  been 
Confined  to  my  houfs  with  an  Very  ill 
turn  of  Sicknefs  but  I  am  much  better 
In  health  Pleafe  to  send  me  three  or 
four  pounds  of  your  Shugare  and  I  Defire 
to  Pay  you  In  A  few  Days  I  have  the 
promis  of  Money  but  I  Defire  to  go  this 
Day  where  I  Expect  some  from  yor  friend 

Je"-  Willfon 
Two  pounds  of  sugar  at  thirteen  shillings 
a  pound  old  tenor  were  sent  him  the  same 
day,  and  toward  the  end  of  the  year  the 
entry  comes,  — 

1769.  I  gave  a  Receipt  for  the  Whole 
of  Jeremiah  Willfon'  account  on  y^  oppo- 
site side. 

No  consideration  is  mentioned,  his  "  very 
ill  turn  of  Sickness  "  probably  having  settled 
the  debt.  There  were  two  Jeremiah  Will- 
sons,^  son  and  grandson,  of  Samuel  Willson 
the  Pettaquamscut  purchaser  mentioned  in 
Judge  Sewall's  letter.^     It  is  difficult  to  de- 

1  Potter,  History  of  Narragansett,  p.  293.         2  Appendix. 


BLACKSMITHING  6/ 

termine  which  this  was,  as  the  younger  Will- 
son  was  born  in  1726,  and  his  father  might 
also  have  been  living  in  1 769.  The  Willson 
woods,  north  of  Peace  Dale,  are  still  called 
after  the  first  purchaser. 

In  1770  College  Tom  paid  "  25  dollars  in 
full  for  a  Horse  for  Rob',"  the  eldest  son, 
and  the  next  year  occurs  a  curious  entry  of 
mixed  currency  and  instruction. 

1 77 1  9"*  4"'  mo  Powel  Helme  D' 
To  7  weeks  and  six  days  keeping  of  y^ 

Coddington  Horse  @  i""  of  Chocolat  per 

week 

Credit  by  thy  instruct^  my  Robert  in 

the  art  of  Navigation  in   Part  («  5  shil- 
lings %d. 

Chocolate  is  first  mentioned  in  the  account 
book  in  1754  at  fourteen  shillings  a  pound, 
and  in  this  year,  when  it  paid  for  the  horse's 
keep,  and  offset  the  instruction  in  the  art  of 
navigation,  it  cost  forty  shillings  a  pound  old 
tenor,  or  one  shilling  and  sixpence  a  pound 
in  lawful  money.  The  same  year  "  i  fatt 
Horse  "  cost  forty  dollars,  or  twelve  pounds 
lawful  money,  which  puts  the  dollar  at  six 
shillings  as  we  still  have  it. 

These  horses  had  to  be  shod,  and  Joseph 
Hull  was  the  blacksmith  who  did  it.    It  would 


6S  COLLEGE    TOM 

be  interesting  to  know  where  he  got  his  iron 
from.  "  Iron  works  for  refining  "  were  be- 
gun on  the  south  branch  of  the  Pawtuxet 
by  Richard  Greene  in  1741 ;  the  metal  used 
was  probably  obtained  from  the  bog  ores  of 
southeastern  Massachusetts.^  But  however 
obtained,  it  was  an  article  a  worthy  farmer 
should  prize  highly,  and  we  find  the  individ- 
ual shoes  for  the  horses  mentioned,  as  in  the 
following  entries :  — 

1769  Joseph  Hull 
One  pair  of  Shoes  set  on  y^  hipt  Mare 

and  he  found  Iron  for  i  Shoe. 

By  making  y^  shoes   and  shoeing  my 

Bald  Mare     I  found  ye  Iron 

By  Shoeing  my  old  Bay  Mare  I  found 

old  Shoes. 

By  shoeing  my  Horfe  and  my  old  mare 

Each  a  pair  of  Shoes  before. 

The  same  Hull  also  made  a  "  Hetchel  at 
three  shillings  old  Tenor  per  tooth  320 
Teeth,  16/."  A  "fire  Pann  "  of  his  mak- 
ing cost  three  shillings  and  250  clout  nails 
thirty-five  shillings.  He  sharpened  plough 
irons  and  made  "  Snibills  for  three  chests," 
and  "  Nib  Irons."     In   1770  he  is  credited 

^  Weeden,  Economic  and  Social  History  of  N'.  E.,  vol. 
ii.  pp.  497-500. 


NAILER   TOM  69 

with  "  Shuting  my  Bucket  Hook."  This 
seems  to  have  been  almost  his  last  employ- 
ment, for  Joseph  Congdon,  Jr.,  soon  begins 
to  shoe  the  horses.  In  1774  he  sets  five 
pair  of  shoes  on  five  horses  at  seven  pence 
one  farthing  a  pair.  Also  he  is  credited 
"  By  shoeing  Rowland's  Horse  fore  only 
I  found  the  Shoes  "  at  the  same  price,  so 
it  seems  probably  the  shoes  were  found 
on  both  occasions.  Rowland  Hazard,  the 
youngest  son,  was  born  in  1763,  and  was 
already  established  with  his  horse  at  the  age 
of  eleven.  His  father  soon  after  allowed 
him  to  purchase  an  acre  of  land,  the  deed 
of  which  is  still  in  the  possession  of  his  de- 
scendants. "  Tommy's  horse  "  is  shod  be- 
fore at  IS.  Sd.  I  the  next  year. 

Another  blacksmith  who  was  quite  a 
famous  man  in  his  day  is  not  mentioned  in 
this  account  book,  which  has  scanty  entries 
after  1770.  Thomas  Hazard,  son  of  Ben- 
jamin, "  Nailer  Tom,"  as  he  was  called,  in 
his  diary  has  constant  references  to  dealings 
with  "  Cousin  Hazard,"  for  College  Tom 
was  his  own  cousin,  the  eldest  son  of  his 
father  Benjamin's  eldest  brother,  so  that 
there  were  thirty-six  years  between  them. 
Nailer  Tom's  mother  was  Mehitable  Red- 


70  COLLEGE    TOM 

wood  of  Newport,  and  having  lost  both 
parents  early,  he  was  apprenticed  by  his 
guardian  to  a  blacksmith,  and  became  an 
excellent  one.  A  journal  of  his,  covering 
the  period  from  1778  to  1 781,  is  in  the  Red- 
wood Library  in  Newport,  and  has  been 
published.-^  Constant  mention  is  made  of 
Cousin  Hazard.  He  often  dined  with  him, 
quite  regularly  after  meeting,  apparently. 
He  "  held  the  harrow  for  Cousin  Hazard," 
"  made  stone  wall  for  him,"  hoed  corn  for 
him,  and  on  June  13, 1779,  "  Went  to  Provi- 
dence in  Cousin  Hazard's  Chaise."  This  is 
said  to  have  been  the  first  chaise  in  Narra- 
gansett.-  Nailer  Tom  also  "  Drawed  rods," 
made  nails,  "  fixed  Cousin  Hazard's  chaise," 
made  buckles,  bits,  and  sturrups,  and  put 
irons  on  the  toes  of  his  shoes.  He  also  shod 
horses,  as  in  August,  1 781,  when  "Cousin 
Hazard  finished  mowing.  Shod  Watson's 
young  mare,  She  hurt  my  hand."  ^ 

Horses  were  perhaps  the  most  important 
of  the  domestic  animals,  since  they  not 
only  worked  the  farm,  but  were  the  means 
of  locomotion.     There  were  few  roads  in 

^  Narragaiisett  Historical  Register,  vol.  i.  Nos.  1-4. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  295. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  284. 


CARTS  AND    TEAMS  7 1 

the  South  County  in  the  middle  of  the  last 
century,  but  bridle  paths  led  from  one  great 
estate  to  another,  through  endless  gates,  the 
survivors  of  which  may  still  be  found  in  the 
"hill  country"  of  Matunuc.  But  the  farm 
could  not  be  properly  worked  without  oxen, 
in  our  ancestors'  opinion,  and  the  account 
book  has  an  early  mention  of  a  yoke  bought 
in  1750  for  ^140.  A  horse  the  same  year 
cost  only  fifty  pounds,  which  seems  to  show 
the  relative  value,  though  the  horse  is  not 
described  as  to  age,  or  merits.  Two  years 
later,  when  potatoes  had  just  doubled  in 
price,  a  milch  cow  and  calf  cost  ;^i6o,  and 
a  three -year -old -horse  ;!^I50.  So  a  ratio 
is  difficult  to  establish.  In  1755,  a  yoke 
of  oxen  cost  ^130  and  an  old  black  trot- 
ting mare  ^55.  Few  oxen  seem  to  have 
been  bought,  probably  most  of  them  were 
raised  on  the  farm.  The  spring  ploughing 
was  done  by  oxen  then  as  now,  and  the  sea- 
weed brought  up  from  the  beaches  in  the 
autumn. 

The  teams  and  carts  were  also  let  to 
neighbors.    In  1 766,  Adam  Gould  is  debtor 

To  my  Team  &  one  Hand  to  cart  stones 

^  day  45-.  4^^  Lawful 

To  Two  pair  of  oxen  to  help  him  Plough 


72  COLLEGE    TOM 

Two  days  each  pair  at  2s.  3*^  Lawful  per 
day 
Andrew  Nichols  has  in  the  same  year  — 
My  Team  &  Cart  &  man   to  cart  wood 
four  days  at  one  &  half   DoUer  per  day 
;^i.i6^  Lawful 

This  again  reckons  the  dollar  at  six  shil- 
lings, and  the  six  dollars  (thirty-six  shillings) 
is  carried  out  directly  in  pounds  and  shil- 
lings. The  following  entry  is  also  interest- 
ing:— 

1770.     13"'  6  mo.  Jos'"  Torrey  ^^ 
To  the  Mash  on  Spectacle   Island,   To 
my  four  hands  besides  Tho'  my  Son  & 
Team    assisting    in    mowing    Raking   & 
Bringing  off  "js.  6"^ 

To  Carting  of  it  to  thy  house  beside  As- 
sist, work  that  afternoon  £Af  old  Ten.  = 
3^  Lawful 

1773  To  carting  one  Load  of  Cole  from 
Ministerial  Farm  9^ 

Nova  Scotia  coal  had  been  brought  for 
many  years  to  Boston,  and  this  most  proba- 
bly came  in  at  the  South  Ferry,  or  at  Rob- 
ert Hazard's  wharf  on  Boston  Neck.  Powel 
Helme  had  — 

I  pair  of  oxen  three  times  to  ye  ferry  & 
to  Littlerest. 


TANNING  73 

And  Dr.  Torrey  had  — 

My  Cart  &  oxen  going  up  to   George 

Gardners  Mill  for  Boards, 
for  which  service  as  early  as  1 750  he  paid  £2. 

With  horses  in  constant  use  saddles  were 
of  course  necessary.  In  1753  a  man's  saddle 
cost  thirty-three  pounds.  Three  years  later 
a  new  pillion  cost  six  shillings,  a  bridle  fifty 
shillings,  and  mending  a  side-saddle  twenty- 
three  pounds,  five  shillings.  Stirrup  leath- 
ers cost  one  shilling  and  four  pence.  The 
leather  was  all  tanned  and  dressed  near 
home.  Constant  entries  occur.  In  1757 
beef  hides  sold  at  five  shillings  a  pound. 
The  largest  transactions  in  leather  are  with 
Colonel  John  Potter,  and  a  third  seems  to 
have  been  a  very  usual  rate  for  the  tanning. 

James  Rodes  was  an  early  tanner,  and  in 
1757  "  Drefsed  to  y^  halves  "  the  skins  sent 
him.  The  following  year  they  were  to  be 
dressed  at  the  same  rate,  "  or  5  shillings  per 
Pound  old  Tenor  to  be  at  my  Election  when 
done."  In  1759,  "  This  year  \  for  Drefsing 
&  2  Sheep  Skins."  Colonel  John  Potter 
also  took  the  skins,  as  in  the  following  en- 
try, with  its  pleasing  liberty  of  spelling :  — 
1764     John  Potter  Coir 

The  4th   7th  month.     To  one  ox  hide, 


74  COLLEGE    TOM 

one  bull  hide,  one  Heifer  Hide  and  one 
Calve  skin  all  which  he  brought  from 
Jeremiah  Brown's  Tan-yard,  and  six 
Cave  skins  his  Boy  Carried  from  my 
Houfe,  He  to  have  one  third  for  Tan- 
ning the  Beef  hide  and  Tanning  and 
Currying  the  Calve  Skins. 
In  1777  Paul  Green  was  the  tanner.  To 
him  were  delivered  — 

Ten  calves  skins  Two  of  them  eat  much 
with  Rats  two  Swine  skins  four  Beef 
Hides  all  to  be  Tanned  and  the  Calves 
skins  Curried  for  one  third  the  Hoog's 
skins  to  be  Dressed  for  Saddle  Leather. 
1778.     4'*' mo  3. 

Sent  by  Tommy  to  Paul  Green  Five 
Beef  Hides  &  one  Horfe  skin  in  all  Six 
skins  of  Creatures  of  full  groth ;  Two  Veal 
Calve  Skins  &  one  Skunk  Skin  much  eat 
by  the  Doggs  he  is  to  Tann  &  Curry 
the  Calves  for  one  Third.  5**"  11*''  day 
Carried  Two  Veal  Calve  Skins  to  Pay  s'^ 
Green 

William  Little  was  the  shoemaker  in  the 
fifties.  In  1756  he  made  "Shoes  for  son 
Rob*  making  i  at  25^.,  he  found  the  Sole 
Leather,  the  other  at  205-;"  an  odd  way  of 
reckoning  the  individual  value  of  each  shoe. 


SHOES  AND  SHOEMAKERS  7S 

He   also   made   heels   for   women's   shoes. 
Why  heels  should  have  given  trouble  is  dif- 
ficult to  imagine,  but  Nailer  Tom  in   1781 
records  that  he  "  fixed  the  heels  of  Cousin 
Hazard's  Shoes." ^     Three  years  later  shoes 
were  six  pounds  a  pair.    In  1 768,  John  Sher- 
man makes  twelve  pairs  of  shoes  for  twenty- 
four  pounds,  and  seems  to  have  all  the  shoe- 
making  of  the  house  to  do.     He  is  paid,  — 
1768     For  Making  and  Repairing  Shoes 
for  ye  Family  ye  year  Past  and  his  find^ 
some  Women's   Heats  (hats)  amounting 
to  the  sum  of  ^^75.00.00 
As  with   the  large  quantities   of  sugar,  so 
with  the  leather,  Thomas  Hazard's   neigh- 
bors had  the  advantage  of  his  stores.     Vari- 
ous entries  occur  of  pieces  of  leather  such 
as  this, — 

1 78 1  John  Torrey  D' 
To  part  of  a  Calve  Skin  enough  to  cut 
out  a  Pair  of  Shoes  at  3^  Lawful 
A  large  reduction  in  price  from  1 763,  when 
"Leather  for  a  pair  of  shoes"  cost  ^5. 
The  farm  must  support  itself,  and  not  only 
in  life  must  the  "creatures"  serve  their 
master,  but  their  usefulness  still  continues 
after  the  riding  and  ploughing  is  done. 

^  A^arragansett  Historical  Register^  vol.  i.  p.  177. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Cows.  Ferry  to  Newport.  Hay,  Beef,  Veal,  Milk,  Butter, 
Cheese.  Cheese-press.  Phillis.  Dr.  Joseph  Torrey. 
The  Ministerial  Farm.  Rowland  Robinson.  *'  Stout 
Jeffrey  Hazard."     Sarah  Hazard,  widow. 

If  horses  were  important  to  the  early 
farmers  in  Narragansett,  and  oxen  were 
essential  to  the  work  of  the  farm,  it  was 
more  truly  the  cows  which  brought  in  the 
revenue,  and  were  the  main  dependence  of 
the  country.  The  climate  of  Narragansett 
is  well  suited  for  cattle,  the  mild  winters 
demanded  comparatively  little  shelter  for 
them,  and  the  fodder  was  excellent.  Marvel- 
ous stories  are  told  of  the  hay  crops  grown 
upon  Boston  Neck.  The  grass  was  said  to 
be  waist  high,  and  more  luxuriant  than  at 
present  in  the  new  fields  of  the  far  west. 
Under  these  favorable  conditions  the  pros- 
perity of  the  country  rapidly  increased.  In 
1748  we  find  that  John  Gardner^  of  South 
Kingstown  prays  the  General  Assembly  to 
grant  him  the  liberty  of   keeping  a  ferry 

1  R.  I.  C.  R.,  vol.  vi.  p.  242. 


HAY  A  ND  HA  YSEED  77 

between  South  Kingstown  and  Jamestown, 
as  he  is  provided  with  "  a  good  wharf  and 
Pier  situate  in  a  convenient  and  commodi- 
ous place."  He  represents  to  the  Assembly 
"that  the  inhabitants,  trade,  and  commerce  of 
this  colony  have  so  far  increased  of  late  that 
the  ferries  established  on  the  Narragansett 
shore,  and  the  boats  employed  in  that  service 
are  not  sufficient  to  transport  with  conven- 
ience the  numerous  passengers,  their  large 
droves,  various  effects,  and  merchandise ;  the 
boats  often  being  crowded  with  men,  women, 
children,  horses,  hogs,  sheep,  and  cattle,  to 
the  intolerable  inconvenience,  annoyance, 
and  delay  of  men  and  business."  This  ur- 
gent petition  was  duly  granted. 

In  1750  hay  sold  at;^20  a  load,  at  which 
rate  seven  loads  of  hay  would  pay  for 
a  yoke  of  oxen  in  the  same  year.  There 
was  an  exceedingly  dry  season  all  through 
New  England  in  1749,  which  may  have  af- 
fected the  price.  In  1755,  when  prices  had 
risen,  it  was  still  ;^20  a  load,  and  a  yoke 
of  oxen  cost  £1^0  only.  Little  hay  was 
sold  ;  but  few  entries  of  it  occur.  Probably 
only  enough  for  home  consumption  was 
raised.  Herds-grass  seed  was  twenty-five 
shillings  a  quart  in  1764.     In   1760  Henry 


yS  COLLEGE    TOM 

Shearman  is  debtor  "  to  one  load  of  good 
Hay  for  which  he  is  to  mow  13  days  in 
next  season  of  Mowing."  Nor  was  much 
beef  disposed  of  from  the  farm.  Beef  hides 
have  been  mentioned,  and  the  roasts  prob- 
ably appeared  on  the  family  table.  In  1765 
beef  was  sold  at  45.  6^.  per  pound,  and  five 
years  later  at  five  shillings.  In  1778,  when 
the  currency  was  on  a  specie  basis,  it  is  reck- 
oned at  ^d.  per  pound,  while  pork  is  three 
farthings  higher,  and  cheese  at  ^d.  It  was 
evidently  not  held  in  great  esteem  as  an  arti- 
cle of  food.  Perhaps  the  oxen  were  too  hard 
worked.  Veal  is  a  shilling  a  pound  more, 
and  pickled  pork  three  times  as  much  as 
beef.  "  A  neat  beast  "  sold  at  ;^65  in  1 768, 
but  that  was  only  £2  8^.  ii^\d.  lawful 
money.  Milk  sold  at  a  shilling  a  quart  in 
1752,  and  continued  at  that  price  for  some 
time.  Four  years  later  it  was  sixpence 
more.  Butter  was  5^.  6d.  a  pound  in  1750, 
and  rose  to  seven  shillings  the  next  year. 

But  cheese  was  the  important  product 
of  the  farm.  College  Tom  does  not  seem 
to  have  disposed  of  it  himself,  but  sold  his 
cheeses  to  some  one  person  who  exported 
them.  For  several  years  James  Helme  was 
the  man.    In  1754,  3627  pounds  were  made 


CHEESE  79 

which  sold  at  three  shillings  the  pound, 
bringing  ^545  17^.  The  next  year  only 
2769  pounds  were  made,  which  sold  at  the 
same  price  per  pound.  The  quantity  made 
decreases  as  the  price  goes  up.  In  1756, 
2496  pounds  sold  at  five  shillings,  and  in  '57 
1909  pounds  at  ds,  6d.  In  1763  there  is 
more  made  again,  twenty-eight  cheeses  of 
2830  lbs.  weight,  which  brought  ten  shil- 
lings a  pound. 

The  4th  of  y^  7""  1759  had  in  y^  Cheefe 

House  46  Cheefes  new  milk  with   them 

in  y*    Prefs  &    8  Cheefes  made    every 

other   day  at  first  &   one   we  have   eat. 

In  1765  occurs  this  entry:  — 

4"'  6'*'  mo.  Numbered  the  Cheefes  made 
this  year  and  there  were  in  y^  Cheefe 
House  of  new  milk  cheefe  new  made  22 
and  2  in  y'^  Prefses  &  one  amaking  the 
whole  number  25. 

^th  ^th  ^Q     Q^^  Qj^g  cheese. 

One  cannot  help  hoping  that  it  proved 
to  the  good  farmer's  liking. 

In  1766  there  was  an  effort  by  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  to  force  a  return  to  a  sound 
currency,  and  in  this  year  the  cheese  is 
reckoned  at  twenty  pounds  weight  for  a 
Spanish   milled   dollar.     Twenty-four   hun- 


So  COLLEGE    TOM 

dred  weight  of  cheese  was  made  this  year. 
The  year  following,  Rowland  Robinson,  the 
brother-in-law  of  College  Tom,  took  a  hun- 
dred and  nine  cheeses  of  about  the  same 
weight  at  the  same  price.  The  old  tenor 
bills  were  firmly  rooted,  however,  and  the 
next  year  John  Dockray  has  the  product  of 
cheese,  some  twenty-seven  hundred  weight, 
at  eight  shillings,  old  tenor.  Two  years 
later,  1770,  still  another  rate  is  used,  three 
thousand  odd  pounds  being  sold  to  David 
Green  at  a^d.  \  lawful  money.  Nineteen 
years  later,  1 789,  one  of  the  last  entries  in 
the  book  has  cheese  at  the  same  price. 

The  presses  for  these  cheeses  were  made 
near  home.  In  1772  Daniel  Dye  is  credited 
with  four  days'  work,  "  Made  i  Cheese  prefs 
and  I  Coffin  Phillis.     £^y 

So  life  and  death  are  mixed  !  How  often 
must  Phillis  have  filled  the  presses,  for  she 
is  doubtless  the  prototype  of  that  ancient 
negro  of  famous  memory  whom  "  Shepherd 
Tom  "  has  celebrated  as  his  grandfather's 
never-to-be-fororotten  cook.  It  was  a  com- 
mon  name  among  the  Narragansett  negroes, 
and  in  College  Tom's  household  she  would 
be  well  cared  for,  and  was  evidently  decently 
buried.     The  Phillis  of  "  The  Jonny-Cake 


BUYING  STOCK  8 1 

Papers  "  could  not  have  been  this  one,  as 
she  died  more  than  thirty  years  before 
"  Shepherd  Tom  "  was  born. 

Several  interesting  purchases  of  cows 
were  made,  as  when  Jonathan  Hazard,  of 
Newport,  in  1762  bought 

I  Winter  Milch  Cow  &  Calf  @;^i50. 
He  is  credited  By  11  Dollers  (^  £'j      £']']. 
By  Seventy-Three  Pounds  old  Iron     __Th: 

A  pound  of  iron,  and  a  pound  with  the 
delusive  sterling  mark  evidently  were  of 
equal  value. 

In  the  same  year — 

Rec"^  of  Thomas  Robinfon  of  Newport 
to  the  Value  of  one  Hundred  &  forty 
Eight  Spanish  Mill^  Dollers  in  Gold  & 
Silver  as  Calculated  by  Doct'  Rob'  Haz- 
ard from  Whofe  Hand  I  Rec'^  them. 

f^  mo  1 762  Jos'"  Congdon  gave  his  note 
of  Hand  for   100  of  s^  Dollers  as  he  had 
ye  same  to  Buy  Cows  in  Cuttnecticut  & 
myself  gave  note  for  forty  &  8. 
In    1664    when  corn  was  at  eighty   shil- 
lings, old  tenor,   per  hundred,    and  a  pair 
of  shoes  cost  nine  pounds,  occurs  the  fol- 
lowing entry :  — 

Rec'd  of  Jos''  Torrey  by  the  Hand  of  his 


82  COLLEGE    TOM 

wife  14  Spanish  Mill''  in  gold  &  Silver  to 
buy  a  cow  for  him  in  Connecticut.  Re- 
turned S  dollars  some  cop'  i  cow  to  s'' 
Torrey. 

That  is  to  say,  the  cow  cost  a  little  less 
than  six  dollars  in  actual  money.  A  jour- 
ney into  Connecticut  is  evidently  indicated 
for  the  purchase  of  cattle,  perhaps  to  the 
same  farmer  near  New  London  visited  in 
the  early  days. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  Joseph 
Torrey.     In  1770, — 

2  J  St     J  St    j^Q^     Settled    accounts    with 

Doc'  Joseph  Torrey  and  there  is  Due  to 

me  upon  Ballance  the  full  Sum  of  Seven 

Pounds  six  shillings  9^  old  Ten'  having 

first  Deducted  his  acct'  both  for  Phisick 

and  the  Labour  of  his  man  Cuff. 

This  Dr.  Torrey  was  an  interesting  man, 

a  physician  both  for  the  body  and  the  soul. 

He  came  from  Boston  to  Narragansett,  and 

was  married  by  Dr.  McSparran  in  1730  to 

"  Elizabeth  Willson,  at  the  house  of  Jeremiah 

Willson  in  South  Kingstown."  ^     She  was 

probably  the  daughter  or  sister  of  the  friend 

who  wanted  "  Shugare','  as  before  noted.   The 

following  year  four  gentlemen  wrote  to  Bos- 

1  Updike,  p.  117. 


THE  MINISTERIAL  LANDS  83 

ton  to  have  Dr.  Torrey  settled  among  them 
as  minister,  and  on  May  17,  1732,  he  was  or- 
dained by  the  Reverend  Samuel  Niles.^  He 
is  called  the  "  first  incumbent  of  ordination." 
He  immediately  laid  claim  to  the  ministerial 
lands,  and  a  long  and  tedious  lawsuit  was 
the  result.  The  gift  of  land  for  the  support 
of  an  "orthodox  person"  in  1668  has  been 
already  mentioned.  It  seems  the  phrase- 
ology of  the  gift  was  left  purposely  indefi- 
nite. The  purchasers  at  a  meeting  in  1692 
wanted  to  assign  it  for  the  use  of  the  Pres- 
byterians, but  Jaleel  Brenton,  Esq.,  argued 
that  it  would  damage  them  in  estimation 
"  at  home,"  that  is,  England,  if  they  gave  so 
much  to  the  Presbyterians  and  nothing  to 
the  Church  ;  "  and  therefore,"  he  said,  "  if 
you  will  be  ruled  by  me,  we  will  not  express 
it  to  the  Presbyterians,  but  will  set  it  down 
to  the  ministry  and  let  them  dispute  who 
has  the  best  title  to  it !  "  -  The  dispute  did 
not  come  for  thirty  years,  but  when  it  did, 
was  long  and  pertinacious.  As  the  land  lay 
unclaimed,  in  1702  Henry  Gardner  entered 
upon  twent}'  acres  of  it,  and  James  Bundy 

^  Potter,  Early  History  of  Narragansett,  p.  123. 
^  For  a  full  account  of  this  controversy  see  Potter,  His- 
tory, p.  123,  and  Updike,  p.  70  and  following. 


84  COLLEGE    TOM 

upon  the  remaining  two  hundred  and  eighty, 
which  he  sold  to  George  Mumford  in  17 19. 
Upon  the  arrival  of  the  Church  of  England 
missionary,  Mr.  Gardner  promptly  surren- 
dered the  twenty  acres  he  held.  Mumford 
retained  possession  of  the  larger  tract,  in 
spite  of  various  suits  for  the  recovery  of  it. 
In  1732,  after  being  twice  defeated  in  court. 
Dr.  Torrey,  who  laid  claim  to  the  whole  tract 
in  virtue  of  the  confirmatory  grant  of  1679, 
appealed  to  England,  and  obtained  posses- 
sion of  the  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres, 
which  he  conveyed  to  six  trustees  who 
leased  it  "  to  Robert  Hazard,  gentleman," 
and  Dr.  McSparran  brought  suit  against 
him  as  terre-tenant.  The  orisjinal  o^rant  of 
1668  having  come  to  light.  Dr.  McSparran 
wished  to  have  "  one  real  suit  upon  the 
whole  title."  In  his  defense,  Robert  Hazard 
put  in  as  answer  "  two  pleas  in  abatement, 
three  pleas  in  bar,  and  finally  on  the  gen- 
eral issue  of  Not  Guilty."  It  was  in  mak- 
ing these  pleas  that  his  manuscript  copy 
of  "  Coke  on  Littleton  "  and  the  fine  edi- 
tion of  Dalton's  "  Country  Justice  "  probably 
helped  him.  After  various  suits  and  counter 
suits  it  went  to  the  King  in  council,  and 
finally  on  the  7th  of  May,  after  more  than 


LAWSUITS  IN  THE   COLONY  85 

thirty  years  of  litigation,  Dr.  McSparran  was 
defeated,  and  the  lands  confirmed  to  Dr.  Tor- 
rey/  This  lawsuit,  in  which  College  Tom's 
father  had  so  active  a  part,  no  doubt  had  its 
influence  in  forming  the  wish  to  educate 
him  for  a  lawyer.  Dr.  McSparran  complains 
that  there  are  "  a  vast  many  lawsuits  "  in  the 
colony,  "  more  in  one  year,  than  the  county 
of  Derry  has  in  twenty." ""  He  himself  was 
not  loath  to  engage  in  them,  as  we  have  seen, 
and  in  a  new  country  the  troublesome  ques- 
tion of  boundaries  always  occasions  them. 
As  late  as  1722,  when  the  dividing  line  be- 
tween North  and  South  Kingstown  was  run, 
the  line  is  described,  "and  so  continuing  said 
course  as  near  as  we  could  for  the  badness 
of  the  way."  ^  Such  boundaries  were  not 
conducive  to  clear  titles,  and  endless  confu- 
sion often  resulted.  Beside  his  preaching 
Dr.  Torrey  practiced  medicine,  and  had  also 
some  farming.  The  "  Mash  "  on  Spectacle 
Island  was  his,  as  before  noted,  and  from  his 
long  association  with  Robert  Hazard  the 
friendship  between  the  families  seems  to 
have  been  close. 

1  Appendix,  Paper  in  this  case,  Affidavit  of  Foxcroft  and 
Chauncy. 

2  Updike,  America  Dissected,  p,  515. 

3  R.  I.  C.  R.,  vol.  iv.  p.  316. 


86  COLLEGE   TOM 

Shepherd  Tom,  in  his  interesting  "  Rec- 
ollections of  Olden  Times  "  recalls  hearing 
of  the  good  doctor  in  his  young  days.  He 
lived,  he  says,  in  a  house  that  stood  about 
a  mile  from  the  village  of  Tower  Hill,  on 
the  south  side  of  the  road  leading  west,  still 
called  the  "  Tory  lot." 

"  I  the  more  particularly  remember  old 
Parson  Torrey,"  he  continues,  "  from  a  uni- 
form way  my  father  used  to  tell  me,  when  I 
was  a  small  boy,  the  old  Presbyterian  had 
of  reproving  his  son,  a  very  naughty  boy, 
to  whom  he  would  say  with  great  empha- 
sis when  he  behaved  amiss,  '  Why !  I  am 
ashamed  of  you,  John !  I  am  ashamed  of 
you ! ' " 

This  son  of  Dr.  Torrey 's  also  appears  in 
the  account  book,  — 

1 78 1.  Settled  accounts  with  John 
Torrey  (for  weaving)  and  there  is  due 
him  the  Ballance  of  Seven  Pounds  Four- 
teen Shillings  at  the  rate  of  four  Pounds 
p'  bushel  for  Corn 

These  were  old  tenor  prices  again,  with 
corn  at  eighty  shillings  the  bushel. 

Rowland  Robinson,  who  took  the  cheeses 
for  several  years,  was  a  man  of  marked 
ability,  hot  tempered,  and  hasty,  "  a  man  of 


ROWLAND  ROB/NSON  8/ 

violent  passions,  but  of  a  noble  benevolent 
nature,"  one  of  his  descendants  remarks. 
He  had  constant  quarrels  with  his  neigh- 
bors, but  was  really  most  generous.  In  his 
later  years  he  quarreled  with  his  nephew  and 
namesake  Rowland  Hazard,  and  threatened 
to  cut  him  out  of  his  will,  but  ended  by 
leaving  him  much  of  his  land.  The  tragic 
fate  of  his  beautiful  daughter  Hannah  has 
been  fully  told.^  From  their  fine  house, 
still  standing  on  Boston  Neck,  she  managed 
to  run  away  with  her  lover,  a  young  French 
gentleman.  Soon  after  her  marriage  she 
began  to  pine  for  a  reconciliation  with  her 
father,  the  more  so  as  her  husband  proved  a 
man  of  light  and  fickle  character.  She  was 
finally  carried  back  to  Narragansett  upon  a 
litter,  only  to  die  in  her  father's  house,  who 
bitterly  mourned  her  loss,  which  his  harsh- 
ness had  certainly  done  something  to  occa- 
sion. She  is  still  spoken  of  as  the  unfortu- 
nate Hannah,  and  this  bit  of  tragedy  rises 
from  the  leaves  of  the  old  account  book, 
associating  itself  with  the  name  of  Rowland 
Robinson  more  closely  than  his  generous 
deeds,  or  broad  acres. 

The  pasturing  of  cattle  also  added  to  the 

1  T.  R.  Hazard,  Recollections  of  Olden  Times. 


88  COLLEGE    TOM 

income  of  the  farm.    There  are  only  one  or 
two  mentions  of  a  man  famous  in  local  his- 
tory, —  Geoffrey  Hazard,  "  stout  Jeffrey  "  as 
he  was  called.    The  first  is  very  early  in  the 
book,  with  the  date  unfortunately  obliterated: 
^th  q£  gth  j^Q  Carried  my  oxen  to  Jaffeory 
Hazard  to  Pafture     Carried  my  cow  y^ 
16'''  of  6""  month    Carried  3  Heiphers  21'' 
of  y^  6""  month 

Apparently  they  were  not  well  cared  for, 
for  — 

(f"  of  ye  9*   mo  one  of  y^   Heiphers 

was  in  my  upper  Pafture  &  Harry  told 

me  he  saw  her  some  days  before  in  y^ 

Training    Lott.     Drove   her   to    Pafture 

again  the  13^''  of  the  Same  Month. 

This  Geoffrey  Hazard  was  famous  for  his 

strength.     He    is    reported    to    have   lifted 

two-year-old  colts,  and  to  have  been  able  to 

drink  from  the  bung-hole  of  a  barrel  of  cider, 

holding  it  above  his  head.    A  great  stone  lay 

for  many  years  where  he  lifted  it  and  threw 

it  down.     The   story    is   that  some   slaves 

were  buildins:  a  wall,  and  had  this  stone  on 

skids,  but  were  unable  to  move  it.     Seeing 

Geoffrey  Hazard  come  riding  by,  they  called 

to  him  for  help,  as  his  strength  was  famous 

throughout  the  country-side.     But  he  was 


STOUT  JEFFREY  HAZARD  89 

displeased  at  their  familiarity,  and  lifting 
the  stone  off  the  skids,  threw  it  on  the 
ground,  where  it  lay  until  brought  to  Peace 
Dale  by  Rowland  Hazard.  It  is  now  in 
front  of  the  house  at  Oakwoods,  inscribed : 

Stout  Jeffrey  Hazard  lifted  this  stone 
In  pounds  just  1621 
In  South  Kingstown  he  lived  and  died 
God  save  us  all  from  sinful  pride. 

But  the  usual  records  in  the  account 
books  are  of  cattle  brought,  not  sent,  to 
pasture.  In  1762  "  Peleg  Peekham  brought 
9  Cattle  to  keep,"  and  "Andrew  Nichols 
brought  his  Father's  Cow  to  keep  by  y^ 
week  @  £1  p'  week."  Samuel  Willson, 
Eber  Shearman,  and  many  others  brought 
cows  to  keep,  among  them  College  Tom's 
mother.  Robert  Hazard  died  in  1762,  and 
the  sons  were  left  to  care  for  their  mother. 
Her  accounts  came  regularly,— 

1765,  20*''  5*''  month    Mother    Hazard 

Took  away  her  Cows  &  left  her  Calf  with 

me  to  keep. 
In  December  of  the  same  year  College  Tom 
"  Took  a  Black  Cow  to  keep  for  my  mother," 
and  in  1 766  "  Settled  ace*'  with  my  mother 
Hazard  &  took  a  Receipt  for  her  annual 
legacy."  Then  after  a  few  years  comes  the 
entry,  — 


90  COLLEGE   TOM 

Sarah  Hazard  Widow 
Job  Took  away  Mother's  Cows  y^  f^  day 
of  the  2^  month  1772. 
The  f^^i'^mo  1773     Settled  this  ace*  as 
alfo  for  Mother's   Coffin  with  Brother  Job 
Watson. 
This  was  "  Sister  Sarah's  "  husband,  with 
whom   "  Mother    Hazard "   seems    to    have 
lived,  though  Shepherd  Tom  says  she  died 
in  Newport.     There  is  only  one  other  men- 
tion of  this  lady ;  in  the  Regiftor  of  Death. 
Sarah   Hazard  widow  of   Robert  Haz- 
ard late  deceafed  departed  this  Life  the 
V^  day  of  the  2"^^  month  Call'^   February 
1772  about  half  after  Eight   o'Clock  in 
the    evening  being  the  7*''  day  of  week 

aged  77   years    the  of   the  Eighth 

month  Call"^  August  1771. 
So  it  was  a  week  after  her  death  that  her 
cows  were  taken  away.  They  were  prob- 
ably the  wide-horned,  red-skinned  cows  of 
Devon  extraction  which  have  come  to  be 
the  native  of  Rhode  Island,  giving  milk 
rather  scanty  in  butter-making  properties, 
but  excellent  for  the  cheese  which  Narra- 
gansett  became  famous  for.  Upon  their 
meek  heads  a  large  part  of  the  prosperity  of 
the  country  was  built. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Sheep  and  Wool.  Spinners  and  Weavers.  Martin  Reed 
the  First  True  Manufacturer.  His  Character  and  Meth- 
ods of  Work.  Colonel  George  Hazard's  Mill.  Linen.  The 
Women  who  spun.     Stockings  and  Mitts.     Tailoring. 

If  the  details  of  the  early  Narragansett 
life  seem  somewhat  hard  and  prosaic,  when 
we  turn  to  the  sheep  there  is  an  atmosphere 
of  pastoral  simplicity,  an  air  of  leisure 
and  contemplation,  that  surrounds  the  great 
flocks.  The  country,  with  its  hills  and  dales, 
its  fine  grass  and  abundant  water,  was  well 
fitted  to  support  the  timid  creatures  who 
contributed  so  much  to  its  comfort.  Some- 
times in  severe  winters  they  suffered  greatly. 
Dr.  McSparran,  writing  in  1752,  says  that  he 
had  seen  the  Atlantic  "froze  as  far  as  the 
human  eye  could  reach."  ^  In  1780  there 
was  a  cold  season  long  remembered,  when 
the  bay  was  frozen  over,  and  not  a  ship 
moved  in  Newport  harbor.  In  one  of  these 
cold  winters  a  great  flock  was  snowed  in, 
in  the  little  ravine  on  the  east  side  of  Tower 

1  Updike,  America  Dissected,  p.  525. 


92  COLLEGE   TOM 

Hill,  near  where  the  Tower  Hill  House  now 
stands,  which  is  still  known  as  Dorothy's 
Hollow.  The  story  is  that  their  shepherdess 
braved  the  storm  to  try  to  rescue  them,  but 
perished  herself  with  her  sheep.  Tales  are 
also  told  of  a  flock  edging  into  the  sea,  the 
exposed  sheep  taking  refuge  behind  the 
others  less  exposed,  till  all  were  drowned. 
But  such  winters  were  the  exception,  and 
little  shelter  was  usually  provided  for  the 
flocks.  At  Anthony's  on  Point  Judith  the 
wall  of  a  sheep-fold  of  the  old  pattern  can 
still  be  seen.  It  is  a  high  stone  wall,  run- 
ning east  and  west,  and  not  long  ago  still 
had  its  roof.  The  fold  was  open  entirely  at 
the  south,  except  for  the  timbers  that  sup- 
ported the  roof.  Such  rude  shelters  were 
common,  —  perhaps  not  unlike  the  places 
where  shepherds  watched  their  flocks  by 
night  centuries  ago.  In  the  early  days  there 
was  still  need  for  watchfulness.  The  Wolf 
Rocks  beyond  Kingston  were  occupied  by 
their  first  inhabitants  until  quite  recent 
years.  Dogs,  however,  were  not  the  trouble 
they  are  now.  In  fact,  the  sheep  were  so 
much  more  valuable  than  the  dogs,  but 
small  consideration  could  be  given  any  dog 
who  developed  worrying  instincts. 


SHEEP  AND   WOOL  93 

The  great  farmers  all  had  their  own 
flocks,  each  sheep  with  a  distinctive  ear 
mark.  The  South  Kingstown  records  con- 
tain pages  registering  the  different  ear 
marks,  and  Nailer  Tom  duly  mentions  a 
change  in  that  used  by  College  Tom.  Dr. 
McSparran  mentions  "  butter,  cheese,  fat 
cattle,  wool,  and  fine  horses,"  as  the  prin- 
cipal products  of  Narragansett.  Again  he 
says,  "  I  mentioned  wool  as  one  of  the  pro- 
ductions of  this  Colony,  but  although  it  is 
pretty  plenty  where  I  live,  yet  if  you  throw 
the  English  America  into  one  point  of  view 
there  is  not  half  enough  to  make  stockings 
for  the  inhabitants."^  He  adds  that  he 
wishes  "  Ireland  were  at  liberty  to  ship  us 
their  woolens,  which  we  shall  always  want." 
The  poor  Doctor  complained  bitterly  of  the 
weather:  "We  are  sometimes  frying,  and  at 
others  freezing,"  he  says,  and  he  evidently 
longed  for  his  own  Irish  homespun. 

Thomas  Hazard  did  not  sell  very  much 
wool  apparently,  but  raised  enough  to 
clothe  his  household.  One  hundred  pounds 
is  the  largest  sale,  recorded  in  1766,  when 
it  sold  at  14J  pence  lawful.  This  must 
have  been  a  particularly  fine  lot,   for  the 

^  Updike,  America  Dissected,  p.  516. 


94  COLLEGE   TOM 

same  year  another  sale  was  made  at  nine- 
pence  a  pound.  The  following  year  "  Old 
wool  and  Dagg  Locks "  sold  at  fourpence 
half-penny  a  pound.  This  dag-locks,  as  we 
should  write  it,  is  an  interesting  word,  from 
the  Scotch  "  daggle,"  a  drizzle  of  rain,  hence 
anything  daggled  was  moist,  or  draggled, 
and  dag-locks  were  the  long  skirts  of  the 
sheep's  fleece.  In  March,  1 769,  a  man  is 
paid  for  "one  day's  Work  at  Daging 
Sheep."  The  use  of  this  word  suggests  the 
presence  of  Scotch  shepherds  in  Narragan- 
sett.  The  prices  of  wool  mark  the  depreci- 
ation of  the  currency  very  clearly.  The 
first  year  of  the  account  book  has  it  at  eight 
shillings  old  tenor.  It  rises  to  twenty-eight 
shillings,  three  and  a  half  times  as  much, 
in  nine  years.  After  the  spasmodic  effort 
after  specie  payments  in  1766  and  '67,  in 
1768  it  is  at  thirty-two  shillings  old  tenor. 
The  entries  of  prices  of  wool  are  infrequent, 
however,  as  most  of  it  was  for  home  con- 
sumption. 

Hind-quarters  of  mutton  were  often  sold ; 
and  a  saddle  of  mutton  was  a  favorite  roast, 
which  must  often  have  appeared  on  the 
home  table.  In  1750  a  few  sheep  brought 
forty  shillings   each,  and   in    1767,   twelve 


SOUTH  DOWN  STOCK  95 

pounds  old  tenor,  or  nine  shillings  lawful. 
Some  efforts  were  made  to  improve  the 
breed,  which  degenerated  somewhat  from 
the  original  South  Down  stock,  and  Row- 
land Robinson  imported  a  fine  South  Down 
ram.  His  anger  can  be  well  imagined 
when  he  discovered  that  a  lazy  negro,  who 
was  in  the  habit  of  helping  himself  from  his 
flock,  had  killed  this  valuable  beast  to  fur- 
nish a  roast  to  his  family.  There  were  also 
a  few  of  the  short-legged  "  creeper "  breed, 
which  were  prized  by  their  owners.  South 
County  mutton  is  almost  as  famous  as  its 
turkeys,  as  the  sweet  grasses  and  broken 
surface  of  the  country  are  particularly  favor- 
able to  sheep. 

Of    the   shearing   there    is    no   mention, 
though  Nailer  Tom   records  both  washing 
and   shearing   sheep   for    Cousin    Hazard,^ 
but  the  wool  was  often  combed  at  home,  as 
in  1778,  when  Valentine  Ridge  is  credited  — 
By  combing  at  my  house  40  lbs.  of  wool 
By  combing  at  thy  house  33!  lbs. 
He  also  combed  war/led  at  fourteen  shil- 
lings old  tenor  a  pound.     Dr.  Torrey  s  son 
John  was  a  weaver  as  before  noted,  and  this 
wool  comber  was  very  probably  a  son   of 
^  Narr.  Hist.  Register,  vol.  i.  p.  280. 


I 


96  COLLEGE    TOUT 

Master  Ridge,  the  Irish  schoolmaster  of 
Tower  Hill,  a  man  noted  for  his  strong 
character  and  courtly  bearing.  Shepherd 
Tom  thinks  he  probably  left  Ireland  for  po- 
litical reasons,  and  he  would  naturally  in 
coming  to  the  new  world  select  the  place 
where  his  countryman,  Dr.  McSparran,  was 
settled.  In  a  new  country  each  man  must 
count  as  an  individual,  and  there  seem  to 
have  been  few  of  the  social  lines  drawn 
which  exist  in  an  older  community.  The 
doctrine  and  practice  of  the  Friends  on  this 
point  was  doubtless  not  without  its  influ- 
ence, and  there  was  no  apparent  descent 
in  the  social  scale  from  a  physician  to  a 
weaver,  or  a  schoolmaster  to  a  wool  comber. 
Those  who  knew  the  older  generation  of 
Narragansett  men  will  recognize  that  they 
were  truly  no  respecters  of  persons ;  a  man 
was  a  man,  no  matter  what  his  surround- 
ings, and  to  be  treated  with  a  respect  the 
degree  of  which  was  measured  only  by  his 
character. 

The  wool  thus  combed  was  spun  on  the 
"woolen  wheels,"  smaller  and  stouter  than 
the  linen  wheels  also  in  use.  Hannah 
Greenman,  widow,  in  1761  is  credited  with 
"  30   skeins,  4  knots  of  Worfted  spun   for 


( 


WEAVERS  AND    WEAVING  97 

US  at  six  shillings  per  skein."  She  also 
spun  Linen  yarn  at  the  same  price.  Daniel 
Knowles,  "  son  of  Daniel  late  deceased,"  in 
1776  spun  both  worsted  2lW^  Lining  yarn. 
In  that  year  he  spun  thirty  skeins  of  ICersey 
yarn  at  eight  shillings.  James  Carpenter 
of  West  Greenwich  spun  Linnen  yarn,  and 
also  carded  and  spun  Tow  yarn.  He  was 
also  a  weaver  of  tow  cloth  diaper,  but  in 
general  the  spinning  and  weaving  seem  to 
have  been  done  by  different  persons. 

Robert  Martin  is  the  earliest  weaver 
mentioned,  who  in  1753  wove  "  30  yards  of 
Linning  Cloath,  at  seven  shillings,  and  22 
yards  of  Ticking'"  at  the  same  price.  If  the 
varieties  of  linen  corresponded  with  the  spel- 
ling, they  must  have  been  numerous !  The 
ticking  was  for  the  great  feather  beds,  so 
universal  in  all  the  comfortable  houses, 
and  so  valuable  that  they  were  mentioned 
in  the  wills  of  the  period.  Eber  Shearman, 
Jr.,  of  North  Kingstown,  was  an  accom- 
plished weaver.  He  wove  Sarge  cloth  at 
six  shillings,  tow  cloth  at  four,  linning, 
striped  cotton  and  linning,  plain  cotton  and 
Linning,  Flanni7ig,  sarge  worjlcd,  blue  cloth 
Sarge,  and  half  Duroy.  This  last  is  inter- 
esting.     We   still  have  corduroy,  and   the 


98  COLLEGE    TOM 

sixteen  and  a  half  yards  of  "  half  Duroy," 
woven  in  1755,  would  doubtless  make  a 
stout  riding  suit.  "  Gardner  ye  weaver  at 
Tower  Hill,"  Benedict  Oatley,  and  Joseph 
Jesse  have  a  share  in  the  weaving  for  the 
household  from  1756  to  1760.  The  price 
in  1757  is  fixed  at  twenty  shillings  a  pound 
for  wool,  which  they  received  of  Thomas 
Hazard  "  to  be  paid  for  in  weaving  at  the 
rates  following:  Tow  at  3^-.  6d.,  F tanning 
35.,  Worfted  at  5^.,  and  other  cloths  at  the 
same  rate."  Benedict  Oatley,  in  1 760,  wove 
"  about  twenty-six  and  three-quarters  yards 
of  Tow  Cloth,  about  One  yard  of  Which  was 
wove  Kerfey."  He  also  could  weave  striped 
cloth  and  wove  "one  piece  Chex."  William 
Taylor,  in  1756,  is  paid  "for  Scouring  and 
fulling  one  piece  of  Cersey,"  and  "  dyeing 
scouring  Pressing  &  Shearing  one  piece  of 
Sarge."  The  Indigo  for  dyeing  cost  a  dollar 
and  a  half  per  pound  in  1 766.  Some  was 
obtained  the  same  year  in  barter  for  the 
pacing  horse  at  £\2  old  tenor  a  pound,  a 
dollar  being  reckoned  at  eight  pounds. 

But    Martin    Reed^   was    the    prince    of 
weavers  of  the  old  time.     The  first  mention 
of  him  is  in  1763.    After  that  the  entries  are 
1  Updike,  p.  283. 


MARTIN  REED  99 

frequent.  He  is  called  of  North  Kings- 
town, for  his  house  was  near  the  old  St.  Paul's 
church,  of  which,  for  many  years,  he  was 
the  devoted  clerk.  He  was  left  an  orphan 
at  the  age  of  seven,  and  just  before  the 
death  of  his  widowed  mother  was  appren- 
ticed to  a  diaper  weaver.  According  to  the 
old  custom  this  apprenticeship  lasted  till 
he  was  of  age,  and  he  only  had  one  quarter's 
schooling.  But  he  was  ambitious,  and  de- 
termined to  excel  in  his  work.  He  studied 
at  night,  and  eagerly  read  all  the  books  he 
could  find  upon  his  chosen  work.  At  the 
end  of  his  apprenticeship  he  married  the 
daughter  of  a  diaper  weaver,  and  with  a 
single  loom  began  his  career,  which  was 
one  of  continued  prosperity.  On  June  14, 
1 76 1,  he  was  baptized  by  Mr.  Fayerweather, 
and  is  called  in  the  record  "  Martin  Reed, 
the  Parish  Clerk,  an  adult."  He  was  a 
most  devoted  attendant  on  the  church 
services,  and  had  the  care  of  the  church 
building  for  many  years.  He  led  the  sing- 
ing, and  under  Dr.  Smith's  direction,  with 
Martin  Reed  as  leader,  it  is  said,  the 
"  Venite "  was  first  chanted  in  America. 
When  the  church  had  no  rector,  in  the 
troubled  days  of  the  Revolution,  it  was  he 


100  COLLEGE    TOM 

who  read  morning  prayers,  and  the  funeral 
service  for  the  dead.  His  piety  and  sense 
stood  him  in  good  stead  when  Jemima 
Wilkinson,  hearing  he  had  called  her  a 
blasphemer,  came  down  from  her  house  at 
Little  Rest,  clad  in  her  robes  of  state,  and 
went  to  his  house  to  overawe  him,  as  she 
had  many  others.  "  Claiming  to  be  the  Son 
of  God,  she  threatened  that  if  he  did  not 
repent  and  humble  himself,  she  would  put 
forth  her  mighty  power,  and  blast  him  and 
his  family.  He  answered  that  he  enter- 
tained no  gods  like  her  in  his  house,  and 
that  if  she  did  not  forthwith  leave  he  would 
turn  her  out;  on  which  she  troubled  him 
no  more."  ^  He  used  his  musical  ability 
in  a  practical  way  by  constantly  singing 
when  at  work  with  his  journeymen  and 
apprentices.  The  songs  were  Irish,  Up- 
dike says,  and  he  knew  a  great  number, 
or  if  he  did  not  sing  he  uttered  "  their  airs 
by  a  melodious  whistle,  to  which  the  work- 
men became  so  accustomed  that  it  became 
to  them  a  relief  to  their  toils."  In  this 
primitive  work-room,  with  its  few  hand 
looms,  with  the  swift  shuttle  thrown  cease- 
lessly to  the  accompaniment  of  the  master's 

1  Updike,  p.  285. 


COLONEL   GEORGE  HAZARD  lOI 

voice,  not  only  flannel,  striped  and  plain, 
worsted,  tow-cloth,  and  linen  were  woven,  but 
broadcloth,  and  Caliminco.  This  last,  which 
we  are  instructed  to  spell  calimanco,  was  a 
glossy  woolen  satin-twilled  stuff,  checkered, 
or  brocaded  in  the  warp,  so  that  the  pat- 
tern showed  on  one  side  only.  It  was  in  use 
for  dress  occasions,  and  gentlemen  of  the 
old  school  had  calimanco  morning  gowns. 
In  1766,  Martin  Reed  wove  twenty-three 
yards  of  it  at  sixteen  shillings  a  yard  for 
Thomas  Hazard,  and  other  entries  occur. 
He  also  wove  two  "  coverlids  "  that  year,  at 
eight  pounds  each.  Thirty-four  pounds 
four  shillings  were  paid  for  weaving  a 
"  Piece  of  Broad  Cloth,  57  yards." 

Updike  calls  Martin  Reed  the  first  manu- 
facturer in  Narragansett,  though  there  was 
a  much  earlier  establishment  of  a  woolen  in- 
dustry. Colonel  George  Hazard,  a  brother 
of  "old  Thomas  Hazard,"  in  17 19  gives  to 
Thomas  Culverwell  for  love  and  good-will 
"  a  Little  part  of  my  farme  belonging  to  my 
now  Dwelling  house.  .  .  .  More  Especially 
for  ye  Promoting  of  ye  Wooling  Manufac- 
tuary  which  may  be  for  my  benefit  and  the 
Publick  Good."  The  bounds  of  this  half 
acre  are  duly  given  on  "  the  Saquetucket," 


102  COLLEGE  TOM 

and  Henry  Gardner  for  the  same  reasons 
joins  in  giving  full  power  to  make  a  dam. 
"  The  land  that  shall  be  Drowned  by  making 
of  ye  said  Dam  "  was  given  to  Culverwell ; 
"  Which  Dam  is  to  be  made  for  ye  fulling 
of  Cloth,  and  to  ye  Promoting  of  a  fulling 
Mill."  The  deed  expressly  provides  that 
if  Culverwell  "shall  neglect  to  Keep  and 
maintain  a  Good  fulling  mill,"  the  lands  and 
rights  are  to  return  to  the  sfrantors.^  This 
first  dam  upon  the  Saugatucket  was  upon 
Colonel  George's  homestead  near  Rose  hill. 
Two  years  later  Culverwell  receives  "  one 
hundred  pounds  in  Curr*  pafsable  money  of 
New  England  "  from  George  Hazard  for  a 
portion  of  this  land  with  its  buildings,^  and 
June  6,  1723,  the  whole  was  bought  back 
from  Culverwell,  the  land  being  specified  as 
the  same  land  Culverwell  "  purchased  some 
time  past  of  the  Aforesaid  Hazzard,  .  .  . 
with  all  houses  out  houses  Mill  or  Mills 
there  on  standing  or  being  with  all  the  wa- 
ters and  Water  courses  thereto  Belonging." 
"  Levery  and  Seizen  "  of  this  land  was  given 
by  "  Turf  and  Twigg,"  before  witnesses  who 
duly  sign  the    memorandum.^     January  8, 

^  South  Kingstowtt  Records,  vol.  i.  p.  loi. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  197.  8  Ibid.,  vol.  iii.,  New  Series,  p.  5. 


THE  MILL   OF  1725  IO3 

1725,  Colonel  George  gives  it  all  to  his 
"  Beloved  Son  Thomas  Hazard  Cloather," 
for  "  Natural  Love  and  Tender  affection," 
"  With  the  Houfings  Miles  Prefses  Shears 
and  other  things  which  may  tend  or  Belong 
to  the  Cloathing  Trade  &ct."  It  is  most 
generously  given,  "from  henceforth  as  his 
own  proper  Estate  and  goods  absolutely 
without  any  manner  of  condition."^  So 
it  was  a  great  -  uncle  of  College  Tom  who 
started  the  woolen  "  manufactuary,"  with  his 
naive  expression  of  hope  for  his  own  bene- 
fit as  well  as  the  public  good.  No  mention 
of  this  mill  is  made  in  the  account  book. 
There  were  the  plain  hand  weavers,  but 
Martin  Reed  seems  to  have  been  the  best 
in  the  country-side.  All  the  gentry  came  to 
him,  and  he  seems  to  have  been  the  only 
one  who  could  weave  calimanco.  Benedict 
Oatley,  in  1767,  weaves  worsted  plain,  and 
Sarge,  also  "  1 2  yards  plain  Broad  Cloth," 
for  which  he  took  in  payment  some  mutton, 
corn,  and  ten  and  a  half  pounds  of  ga77tmon, 
at  twelve  shillings  a  pound.  This  word 
comes  from  the  French  j'ambon,  and  we 
trust  the  good  weaver  enjoyed  his  salted 
and  smoked  pork. 

^  South  Kingstown  Records,  vol.  iii.,  New  Series,  p.  136. 


104  COLLEGE    TOM 

Nicholas  Brags  wove  linen,  Benedict 
Oatley  also,  both  fine  and  "cors,"  and  Martin 
Reed  as  well.  The  flax  was  apparently 
grown  upon  the  farm,  and  doubtless  much 
of  it  spun  at  home  under  the  eye  of  the 
mistress.  The  last  entry  in  the  book,  1790, 
records,  "  Rutter  the  old  Black  man  Drefsed 
for  me  flax."  In  1761  Hannah  Greenman, 
widow,  spins  "  linnen  yarn  "  at  six  shillings 
the  skein.  Some  is  spun  by  the  weaver 
James  Carpenter,  in  1768,  at  eight  shillings, 
and  woven  into  diaper  at  ten  shillings  a  yard. 
He  also  makes  a  charge  for  "boiling  and 
washing  the  yarn  that  made  S'^  Cloth."  In 
1775,  John  Gould  "took  2|  lbs  of  Flax  to 
Spin  8  Scains  to  y^  pound."  It  was  his 
wife  who  did  it,  as  a  subsequent  entry  shows. 
Astress  Crandall  was  a  famous  spinner  of 
both  linen  and  worsted.  She  spun  "  card- 
work  "  as  well,  and  has  a  special  entry  for 
"  spinning  doubling  and  drefsing  i  skain  of 
stocking  worfted  three  double."  Her  ac- 
count for  spinning  for  the  two  years  end- 
ing in  1778  amounted  to  over  a  hundred 
and  eighty-seven  pounds,  old  tenor.  The 
friendly  relations  of  the  good  farmer's  house- 
hold to  their  humbler  neighbors  is  shown  in 
the  following  entry,  — 


ANDREW  NICHOLS  105 

1776  John  Smith  Paid  ye  above  Charg 
of  I  &  ^  bushels  of  Corn  in  his  Wifes 
Whitening  linnen  Cloth  for  my  Wife 
when  they  settled 

"  Debb,"  doubtless  a  colored  woman  from 
the  absence  of  a  surname,  spun  yarn  for 
stockings  and  mittens,  and  then  knit  "  said 
stockings  and  mitts  at  4  pounds  18  shil- 
lings, old  Tenor."  She  was  carefully  paid 
I''  mo  20*''  day  1778.  This  was  six  years 
before  the  emancipation  act.  Stockings  are 
seldom  mentioned;  a  pair  in  1756  cost  35 
shillings,  and  a  "  Linning  Handkerchief "  in 
the  same  year  22  shillings. 

The  tailor  who  made  the  cloth  into  suits 
of  jackets  and  breeches  was  Andrew  Nich- 
ols.    Eunice   Nichols,  probably  his  wife  or 
daughter,  is  called  tailoress,  and  she  doubt- 
less visited  in  the  great  houses,  making  the 
gowns  for  the  good  dames.     Andrew  Nich- 
ols had  the  constant  work  of  the  house  ap- 
parently; for  he  is  first  mentioned   in  1757, 
and  last  in  1779.     At  the  earlier  date,  — 
1757     Paid  Andrew  Nichols  for  mak- 
ing one  jacket,  and  mending  one  Pair  of 
breeches,  55  shillings. 
He  seems  to  have  been  a  man  fond  of  read- 
ing, a  good  Friend,  as  the  records  show,  and 


I06  COLLEGE   TOM 

to  have  cut  the  coats  of  broadcloth  in  the 
proper  shape.     In  1769  he  is  debtor  — 

To  one  book  entitled  the  Principles  & 
Precepts  of  ye  Chriftian  Religion  &ct  at 
10'  old  Ten.  =  \% 

gth  J  2th  Settled  Accounts   with    Andrew- 
Nichols,  turning  our  accounts   into  old 
Ten',  and  his  amount^  to  one  Hundred  & 
thirty-nine  Pounds  old  Ten'  and  there  is 
the  Ballance  of  1 1^.  ^^\  in  old  Ten""  due 
to  Andrew  Nichols. 
As  early  as  1751  comes  the  entry  of  all  the 
necessaries  for  a  suit,  presumably  sent  to 
Andrew   Nichols  to  make.     Richard   Haz- 
ard, College  Tom's  brother,  has  it,  —  very 
probably  the  half  of  an  importation  of  the 
Devonshire   Cerfsey   and   trimmings.      The 
account  reads  — 

Richard  Hazard  D' 

1 75 1.  To  one  Three  year  old  Horfe  ^^105 
6  Yards  of  Devonfhere  Cerfey  @  ^6.    36 
\  yd  of  Shalloon  @  24/ 
\  yd  of  Fufton  @  34/ 
\  yd  of  ozenbridgs  @  1 2/ 
\  yd  Cotton  Velvit  @  £^ 
4  yards  of  Tape  @  6^^ 
To  Two  dozen  of  Buttons  @  10/ 
To  2  ftiks  of  Twift  @  5/ 
\  oz  of  silk  at  40/ 


TAILORING  107 

I  have  been  unable  to  determine  what  ozen- 
bridgs  were.  They  are  mentioned  only 
once  again  in  1763,  when  Jane  Nash  had 
"i  i  ^  iV  ^^  ozenbridges  @  38^."  From  the 
fact  that  it  was  sold  in  such  small  quanti- 
ties, and  used  by  both  men  and  women,  it 
would  seem  to  be  some  kind  of  stiffening, 
for  the  collar  possibly.  Years  later  College 
Tom's  grandson  manufactured  a  very  coarse 
cotton  and  wool  cloth  which  he  called  Os- 
naburg.  Was  it  possibly  from  a  remem- 
brance of  this  word  in  his  childhood  ? 

In  1770,  Andrew  Nichols  is  credited  with 

4j  days  Work  at  Tailoring  2^  3*^ 
^th   ^mo    gy  Cutting   3   Pair  of  Trowfers 
for  my  boys  &  i  p""  for  W"  Pratt  @  (blank) 
By  2  days  Work  making  my  jacket 
&  5  days  y^  same  month  making 
Cloths  for  the  children. 
This  account  is  paid  by  pounds  of  veal,  but- 
ter, beef,  lamb,  mutton,  and  "  corn  i  Bushel 
when  thou   Pafs'^  from   P'  Judith."     In  an- 
other account  Andrew  Nichols  has  a  thim- 
ble at  six  shillings  and  a  saddle  cloth   and 
white    sheep's    skin.      The     thimble    was 
doubtless  a  commission,  for  as  College  Tom 
went  to  Newport  or  to  Providence  in  his 
chaise,  we  can  fancy  him  stopping   along 


I08  COLLEGE   TOM 

the  road,  and  with  the  courtly  air  his  grand- 
sons inherited  inquiring  if  there  were  "  any 
commands." 

Some  of  the  latest  entries  in  the  book 
relate  to  Andrew  Nichols.  In  1777,  when 
money  was  on  a  better  basis,  and  corn  at 
three  shilhngs  a  bushel,  he  is  credited  — 

By   making    one   pair   of    breeches    for 

Tommy  6  shilling  9  pence 

By  making  one  pair  for  myself  9  shillings 

1779    To  making  a  great  coat  and  close 

body  coat  15  shillings 
In  the  matter  of  clothes  the  country  was  a 
thoroughly  self-sustaining  one.  Every  step 
necessary  to  the  production  of  clothing  was 
taken  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  from 
the  shepherd  who  daggd  the  sheep,  the 
wool  comber  who  combed  the  wool,  the 
spinners  who  spun,  and  the  weavers  who 
wove,  all  went  in  regular  order  till  Andrew 
Nichols  made  the  cloth  up,  and  Thomas 
Hazard  went  to  meeting  clothed  in  a  suit 
made  from  wool  of  his  own  growing. 


4n'^HtS'ftili  entities  the 
',  i.  .  Bearer  to  r^eive 

H  yiv  Wrj,  ortht;  li^ituethjert' 

[  ^<^^  "f  i»  Ck'l^'  or  Sih.vr,  ftp- 


)l  K     DOLLAR     lUI 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Corn  bought  from  the  Indians.  Its  Uses  as  Food  and  as  a 
Medium  of  Exchange.  Prices  of  Corn  from  1751  to  1784. 
Its  Grinding.  The  Men  who  worked  at  Husbandry. 
Difficulties  of  the  Currency. 

Who  that  has  seen  a  great  field  of  corn 
waving  in  the  summer  sunshine  can  fail  to 
be  impressed  with  its  beauty  ?  When  it  is  in 
tassel,  and  the  tufted  plumes  nod  and  bow  to 
their  neighbors,  as  the  light  breeze  rustles 
through  the  leaves,  it  is  indeed  a  fair  and 
stately  sight.  The  year  is  at  its  prime  dur- 
ing the  hot  August  days  that  bring  its  per- 
fection. Beautiful  as  a  great  field  of  wheat 
or  barley  is,  with  its  ripples  of  light  and 
shade,  like  the  play  of  an  inland  sea,  yet  the 
corn,  with  its  stately  height,  its  luxuriant 
sabre-like  leaves,  its  blossoms  fringed  with 
pendulous  anthers,  and  its  silky  tassels 
sheathed  in  satin  wrappings,  has  an  indi- 
viduality of  its  own,  a  pride  and  dignity  of 
growth  befitting  the  native  of  a  new  world. 
From  the  time  when  Squanto  taught  the 
early  Plymouth  colonists  to  cultivate  it,  this 


no  COLLEGE    TOM 

stately  plant,  so  bountiful  and  so  beautiful, 
played  an  important  part  in  the  history  of 
New  England,  and  often  furnished  both 
food  and  a  medium  of  exchange. 

Narragansett  from  times  immemorial  was 
celebrated  for  its  corn.  John  Oldham 
brought  five  hundred  bushels  from  there  to 
Boston  in  the  Rebecca  in  1634.  "  The  In- 
dians had  promised  him  one  thousand  bush- 
els, but  their  store  fell  out  less  than  they 
expected."^  A  couple  of  years  later  this 
hardy  trader  was  killed  on  Block  Island,  and 
an  embassy  was  sent  to  Canonicus  to  treat 
about  the  murder.  They  were  "  entertained 
royally,"  the  old  account  says,  and  the  first 
huckleberry  pudding  on  record  was  made  for 
their  feast.  The  Indians  boiled  "  pudding 
made  of  beaten  corn,"  we  read,  "putting 
therein  great  store  of  blackberries,  something 
like  currants."  ^  If  for  blackberries  we  read 
"  black  berries,  something  like  currants  "  we 
have  a  good  description  of  the  huckleberries 
which  still  abound  in  Narragansett  as  they 
did  in  this  late  July  or  August  of  1636. 

1  Winthrop's  Jozirnal      Quoted  in   Potter,  Early  His- 
tory of  Narragansett,  p.  1 6. 

2  Johnson,  Wonder  Working  Providence.     Quoted  by 
Potter,  p.  1 8. 


INDIAN  CORN  III 

On  Broad  Rock  Farm,  some  of  the  land 
owned  by  College  Tom,  and  still  in  his 
family,  two  of  the  Indian  caches  for  corn  can 
still  be  seen.  They  were  small  hollows  in 
the  ground  roughly  lined  with  stone,  not 
more  than  a  foot  deep  at  present ;  perhaps 
three  feet  long  and  two  wide.  Here  the 
stores  of  corn  were  buried,  or  as  in  the 
Great  Swamp  fight,  put  in  baskets  and  tubs 
and  set  in  the  wigwams.  The  destruction 
of  this  supply  in  the  fight  was  one  of  the 
severest  blows  to  the  Indians.  During  this 
very  summer  parched  corn  has  been  picked 
up  on  the  site  of  this  battle,  now  more  than 
two  hundred  years  gone  by.  The  fire,  which 
destroyed  so  remorselessly,  charred  these 
tiny  grains,  which  are  preserved  just  as  they 
were  when  it  smouldered  and  died  so  long 
ago. 

The  virtues  of  Rhode  Island  jonnycake 
have  been  celebrated  by  College  Tom's 
grandson,  Shepherd  Tom,^  as  he  delighted 
to  call  himself,  and  when  he  says  Rhode 
Island,  it  is  usually  Narragansett  he  means. 
The  reader  is  instructed  just  how  the  corn 
should  be  ground,  at  what  rate  the  stones 

^  The  Jonny-Cake  Papers,  by  Shepherd  Tom.    Published 
by  S.  S.  Rider,  1882. 


112  COLLEGE    TOM 

should  revolve,  and  what  kind  of  stones  they 
should  be.  The  baking  is  seriously  con- 
sidered ;  the  middle  board  of  red  oak  from 
the  head  of  a  flour-barrel  is  indispensable  to 
bake  it  on,  and  the  fire  before  which  it  bakes 
must  be  of  walnut  logs.  Hasty  pudding, 
porridge  so  good  that  it  was  respectfully 
mentioned  in  the  plural  as  "  them  porridge," 
dumplings,  and  a  store  of  other  dainties, 
all  excellent  and  wholesome,  are  treated  of 
with  the  romantic  remembrance  of  a  joy- 
ous youth  full  of  health  and  high  spirit. 

The  corn  that  furnishes  these  homely 
dishes  has  its  own  history.  There  is  some- 
thing fine  in  its  stability,  while  financiers 
and  legislators  experimented  with  the  cur- 
rency and  ran  through  the  whole  period  of 
inflation  with  its  worthless  fiat  money.  A 
bushel  of  corn  still  furnished  just  so  much 
food,  and  instead  of  being  measured  in  value 
by  the  money  of  the  day,  often  became  itself 
the  measure  of  the  value  of  the  currency. 

As  early  as  1630  efforts  were  made  to 
regulate  the  price  by  arbitrary  methods.  It 
was  at  that  time  twenty  shillings  a  bushel.^ 
The  following  year  it  was  made  receivable 
for  debts  in  the    Plymouth   Colony  unless 

1  \YQtd.QnfEconofmc  and  Social  Hisio?y  of  X.E.,  p.  98. 


PRICE   OF  CORN  II3 

beaver  or  money  were  mentioned/  From 
1637  each  year  for  several  years  the  rate 
was  fixed  at  which  taxes  were  to  be  paid  in 
it.  Three  shillings  was  about  the  normal 
rate,  with  variations  either  up  or  down  ac- 
cording to  the  season,  until  the  period  of 
inflation  began.  Indeed  it  had  already  be- 
gun, as  the  Spanish  piece  of  eight,  the 
Spanish  milled  dollar  of  our  acquaintance, 
was  set  at  the  same  time  at  five  shillings.^ 
A  century  later  the  colonies  were  all  suffer- 
ing from  a  debased  currency.  Massachu- 
setts, as  we  have  noticed,  received  "  country 
pay  "  again  for  taxes,  in  which  corn  was  re- 
ceived in  lieu  of  money.  Rhode  Island  was 
issuing  one  bank  after  another,  and  the 
currency  steadily  depreciated  as  the  credit 
of  the  colony  declined.  In  1751  a  Spanish 
milled  dollar  cost  £2  \6s.  in  old  tenor  bills, 
and  College  Tom  sold  his  corn  at  25  shil- 
lings a  bushel.  Then  it  steadily  rises.  Six 
years  later  it  was  35  shillings,  and  in  1759 
had  reached  60  shillings,  touching  100 
shillings  in  1762 — the  highest  price  men- 
tioned  at  all.     The  next  two   years  must 

1  Weeden,   Econofnic  and  Social  History   of  N.   E., 

p.  lOI. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  142. 


114  COLLEGE    TOM 

have  brought  better  harvests  or  the  local 
demand  must  have  varied,  as  it  is  quoted 
at  90  shillings  and  80  shillings,  while  in  '65 
it  was  at  100  shillings  again.  The  spas- 
modic effort  to  reduce  the  currency  to  a 
specie  basis  in  1766  only  resulted,  as  before 
noticed,  in  making  two  sets  of  prices,  and 
corn  is  quoted  in  the  9'^  month  at  90  shil- 
lings old  tenor,  or  3  shillings  lawful  money, 
after  harvest,  that  is,  while  three  months 
before  it  had  been  at  100  shillings  or  35.  %d. 
Then  it  seems  to  have  settled  at  80  shillings 
old  tenor,  or  3  shillings  lawful,  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  recalling  the  price  in  the  early 
days.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  nor- 
mal rate.  In  1778  College  Tom  makes  an 
agreement  with  Sier  Averit,  an  Indian,  who 
very  Hkely  was  baptized  by  good  Dr.  Mc- 
Sparran  as  Josiah,  setting  forth  what  work 
he  is  to  perform,  and  the  payment  for  it, 
forty  dollars  for  the  term  of  eight  months 
for  which  he  is  ensrawd ;  "  The  value  of 
which  money  is  hereby  agreed  on  between 
the  Parties."  Pork  was  to  be  at  3!  pence 
per  pound,  beef  at  3  pence,  cheese  5  pence, 
and  Indian  corn  at  3  shillings  a  bushel.^ 
This  agreement  is  signed  by  the  Indian,  the 

1  Appendix,  Contracts  for  Labor. 


CORN  PAYS  DEBTS  II5 

same  man  who  a  couple  of  years  later  had 
ten  dollars  for  his  "  sickness  and  trouble." 

Not  many  transactions  in  corn  are  re- 
corded. In  1767,  Adam  Gould  was  paid 
for  fourteen  and  a  half  days'  work,  four  of 
which  were  days'  mowing  done  by  his  sons, 
seven  bushels  and  three  pecks  of  corn,  one 
"  Fatt  lamb,"  and  one  Spanish  milled  dollar. 
In  1784,  some  debt  seems  to  have  been 
paid  in  corn,  and  the  entries  are  carefully 
made  of  its  disposition.  About  twenty-five 
bushels  are  accounted  for  :  — 

1784    Corn  measured  out  of  the  Corn 

1  had  of  Joseph  Collins  in  ye  ist  mo. 
4  bufliels  to  Carry  to  Mill. 

i^  \  and  &  3  Quarts  took  by  Rob'. 

2  bufliels  for  John  Shearman. 

2  bufliels  for  Nicholas  Holway. 
2  mo.  4  bufliels  sent  to  mill  for  the  Fam- 
ily. 

3rd  mo.    2  Bufliels  sent  to  mill  for  the 
Family. 

20th.   4  bufliels  sent  to  mill  for  Ditto. 
\  a  bufhel   &    4  Quarts  exchanged    for 
onions. 

20   one  Bufliel  Paid  Nicholas  Gould. 
20   three  Pecks  &:  4  Quarts  paid  Nicho- 
las Gould 


Il6  COLLEGE    TOM 

29    Two  bufliels  for  ye  Family  ufe. 

This  Joseph  Collins  was  the  good  Friend 
who  wrote  a  beautiful  hand,  and  whose  tran- 
scription of  the  "  English  book  of  Disci- 
pline "  is  among  the  precious  volumes  be- 
longing to  the  South  Kingstown  Meeting. 

There  were  several  mills  near  by  to 
which  the  corn  was  taken  to  grind.  Benny 
Rodman's  mill  was  on  the  Saugatucket, 
where  the  Peace  Dale  dam  now  is,  shaded 
by  the  big  buttonwood  tree,  which  tradition 
says  was  once  his  horsewhip,  and  which 
has  grown  where  it  was  thrust  into  the 
ground.  The  stones,  of  native  granite,  of 
this  mill,  were  said  to  be  good, — far  better 
than  the  stones  of  Coon's  mill,  lower  down 
the  stream,  which  were  coarse  grained  and 
made  "  round  meal  "  instead  of  "  flat."  ^ 
But  the  best  meal  was  ground  at  Ham- 
mond's mill,  at  the  head  of  the  Pettaquam- 
scut,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  corn  sent 
to  mill  for  "ye  Family  ufe,"  went  on  old 
Baldface's  back,  and  was  carried  by  The 
Mill  boy,  much  as  described  by  Shepherd 
Tom.^  Nor  need  this  worthy  have  stretched 
the  truth  when  he  declared  to  the  five-year- 

1  T.  R.  Hazard,  R.  I.  Jonny-Cake  Papers,  p.  3. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  49. 


OTHER   CEREALS  II7 

old  boy  that  he  had  performed  the  same 
office  for  the  father,  and  the  grandfather  of 
his  grandfather.  The  child  naturally  re- 
garded him  as  a  miracle  of  antiquity ;  but 
a  man  of  seventy  in  the  first  years  of  the 
present  century  could  easily  have  performed 
the  pleasant  service  of  riding  with  a  grist, 
over  the  charming  country  to  the  head 
of  the  lake,  for  "old  Thomas  Hazard," 
who  died  in  1746,  and  it  is  even  possible 
that  a  man  then  living  could  have  ridden 
for  Robert  Hazard,  the  first  Narragansett 
settler,  though  when  we  are  asked  to  be- 
lieve that  old  Baldface  had  also  served  so 
many  generations,  we  must  have  doubts  re- 
specting the  longevity  of  the  horse  if  not 
of  the  negro. 

Beside  the  corn  that  was  so  important  a 
factor  in  the  colonial  life,  there  are  records 
of  rye,  which  in  1756  was  exchanged  bushel 
for  bushel  for  corn,  oats  at  half  the  value, 
and  barley  at  about  ten  shillings  less.  Of 
vegetables,  potatoes  and  turnips  were  about 
half  as  valuable  as  corn,  while  onions  in 
1767  sold  at  the  same  price  per  bushel. 
Apples  were  plenty,  and  cost  half  as  much 
as  corn  in  1759,  while  one  bushel  of  white 
beans  in    1776  would  buy  two  bushels  of 


Il8  COLLEGE    TOM 

corn.  They  seem  to  have  been  rare,  for 
they  are  first  mentioned  in  the  previous 
year. 

The  agreements  with  the  men  who 
worked  the  farms  which  raised  this  produce 
are  carefully  made/  and  indicate  very  clear- 
ly the  embarrassment  of  the  currency.  If 
our  surmise  is  correct  there  were  half  a 
dozen  negroes  at  least  who  had  descended 
with  the  land,  and  were  dependents  upon 
the  estate.  Early  in  the  book  comes  the 
entry,  — 

Priamus  a  Negro  Boy  Came  to  live  with 
me  at  my  Houfe  the  week  after  ye  Gen- 
eral Election  Held  at  Newport  for  Gen- 
eral  officers   for   the    Colony   of   Rhode 
Ifland,  in  the  year  one  Thoufand  Seven 
Hundred  &  fifty  seven,  being   six  years 
old  the  Octob'  following  the  s'^  Election 
which  was  held  in  May  before. 
This  boy  had  a  life  of  adventure,  as  will 
appear,  but  lived  in  Narragansett  until  he 
came  of  age,  in  this  respect  following  the 
old   method   of    apprenticeships.     Another 
"  Negro  boy,"  Oliver  Smith  — 

ii'*'  month   2^^  day,    1781    came  to   my 
house  with  his  Mistrefs  Elizabeth  Smith 

1  Appendix,  Contracts  for  Labor. 


LABORERS  AT  HUSBANDRY  II9 

age  8  years  the  7^^  of  the  8'*"  month  this 
Prefent  year,  who  is  to  work  for  me  for 
his   Bringing  up   until   he  may  have   an 
advantageous  opportunity  to  go  appren- 
tice. 
Even    this    last   memorandum    was    made 
three    years   before    the   emancipation    of 
slaves  in  Rhode  Island.     In  1 789,  an  agree- 
ment is  made  with  "  Jack  Sanford  a   Black 
man  to  Labor  with  me  at  Hufbandry."     He 
was  to  be  paid  "  the  value  of  Three  Dol- 
lars p'  month,  in  articles  and  Produce  off 
the  farm."     Corn  is  set  at  3  shillings  per 
bushel,  cheese  at  4!'^  per  pound,  "  and  other 
articles  at  a  proportionable  Rate  in  the  old 
way,  &  in   Cloathing  as    may  be  agreed  if 
He  needs  any  " 

One  man  in  1759  came  on  trial  for  a 
month,  for  which  he  was  to  receive  "  Thirty 
Shillings  Lawful  Money  it  being  Connecti- 
cut Prock  so  called."  Four  years  later  it 
was  agreed  with  Henry  Hill  to  "  Labour  for 
me  at  Husbandry,"  for  a  term  of  ten  months 
at  the  end  of  which  he  was  to  receive  the 
"sum  of  400  pounds  old  Tenor  or  the 
Value  thereof  in  any  kind  of  Bills  or  money 
current  at  the  s'^  time."  In  settling  his  ac- 
count there  is  an  interesting  entry  which 


I20  COLLEGE    TOM 

throws  light  upon  the  customs  of  the  day. 
He  is  debtor  to  half  a  quire  of  paper  at 
thirty-four  shillings,  and  "  to  lo^.  Paid  Fox 
the  scribe."  What  letters  did  "  Fox  the 
Scribe  "  write  for  him,  and  how  often  was  he 
employed  in  such  ways,  one  wonders  ?  Hill 
had  also  shoes,  wool,  and  other  things  en- 
tered against  him,  and  at  the  foot  of  his 
account  is  entered,  — 

Settled    the   above    ace*  with     Henry 

Hill  when  I  Paid  him  for  his  Ten  months 

Work  done  in  the  year  1764. 
Early  in  the  book  there  seems  to  be  a  list 
of  laborers :  — 

Taken   out   of   y^    Hampshire   money 

Rec'^  from  Jeffrey  Hazard  — 
£1  to  Lowes.    (The  "  Lowes  Jakeways 

Spinster  "  who  will  appear  later.) 

4  Shillings  to  Jo  Mash. 

30  Shillings  to  Robin 

£6  to  John  Daniel 

/18  to  Patter 

^150  to  Father 

^51  to  John  Docky- 
The  last  two  of  course  are  not  laborers,  John 
Dockray  being  a  connection  by  marriage. 
One  of  these  men  who  frequently  appears  in 
the  book  is  recorded:   1764  16'^  of  y^  i'*  mo 


UNSTABLE  MONEY  121 

as  having  "left  my   Businefs  &  was  Worf 
than  his  Bargain  with  me." 

Jeremiah  Auftin,  as  he  writes  his  name, 
appears  frequently.  A  long  account  in  1 765, 
in  which  he  is  credited  "  By  8  days  mow- 
ing in  his  own  person  "  and  by  the  mowing 
of  his  sons,  and  by  seven  days  and  a  half 
raking,  is  not  footed  up  at  all,  nor  any 
prices  given,  but  "  sixteen  Pounds  old  Ten' 
in  Cash "  are  paid,  and  in  the  following 
spring,  — 

Settled   all    accounts    with    S"^  Auftin  & 
paid   him  y^  Ballance  for  which  I  took  a 
Receipt   in  full    of   this   date  &  is  now 
amongft  my  Receipts. 
In  1673  Michael  Dye  agreed  to  work  for 
eight  months.     He  was  to  receive  "400^ 
old  Tenor,  or  an  equivalent  in   Dollers  at 
£']  p'  Doller,  to  be  at  my  election."     The 
next  year,  1764,  a  man  was  hired  for  seven 
months  at  ^360,  old  tenor,  "  or  the  equiv- 
alent in  any  other  medium  Current  in  the 
Colony    of    Rhode   Ifland."     The    set    of 
agreements  make  very  instructive  reading, 
and   one    regrets   the   loss   of   "  the    other 
book  "  referred  to    in  this  one,  which  may 
have  contained  more,  and  thrown  still  fur- 
ther light  upon  the  workings  of  the  vari- 


122  COLLEGE    TOM 

able  currency.  As  we  have  noticed,  It  was 
the  produce  which  furnished  the  most  stable 
values,  and  corn  became  a  measure  for  other 
values. 

A  useful  man  came  to  work  In  1762, 
who  not  only  worked  at  husbandry,  but 
made  shoes  In  wet  weather,  "  if  it  shall  beft 
agree  with  my  conveniency,"  the  agreement 
says.  In  addition  to  his  wages  a  horse  was 
to  be  kept  for  him  during  the  term  of  his 
stay.  Another  man  In  the  following  year 
was  to  "  labor  at  Carpentry  "  in  wet  weather. 
A  curious  agreement  occurs  in  — 

1778.  Jacob  Barney  Came  to  my  Houfe 
the  19th  of  y^  5^^  month  and  went  to 
work  the  Next  day  at  Hatting  (viz.)  on 
the  20*^  and  is  to  Work  four  months  @ 
Journey  Work,  and  he  is  to  teach  my 
Son  Tommy  the  Hatter's  Trade  &  alfo 
another  Lad  if  I  require  It  &  Provide 
one  and  I  am  to  Pay  Him  the  Common 
journeyman's  Wages  In  the  ufual  way 
(according  to  the  N°  of  Hatts  he  Shall 
make  In  s*^  Term)  by  the  Hatt,  and  to 
find  him  his  Board  for  his  inflruction  of 
the  Lad  or  Lads  as  afores*^ 
This  was  in  the  early  years  of  the 
Revolution,    In    the    terribly    disorganized 


HUSBANDR  Y  DEFINED  1 2  3 

state  of  the  country,  and  it  was  like  the 
thrifty  Friend,  a  hatter  having  come  in  his 
way,  to  have  some  one  profit  by  learning 
what  could  be  learned  from  him.  Hats  had, 
of  course,  fallen  in  price  from  the  time  one 
cost  £\o  in  1763,  but  it  is  interesting  to 
trace  the  old  system  of  journey-work. 

John  Dye,  *'  ye  gardner,"  had  higher  wages 
for  his  more  skillful  work  than  the  ordinary 
laborer.  He  worked  at  three  pounds  a  day 
in  1764,  and  is  debtor  — 

26'**  4*''  mo.  To  one  Ten  shilling  Bill 
Lawful  Money  dated  y'  12'''  of  y'  5'^ 
month  1760  Turned  into  old  Tenor  £10^. 
Credit  by  6^  days  work  at  Gardening 
^19.  \o\ 
This  makes  each  shilling  of  lawful  money 
count  for  twenty-eight  of  old  tenor. 

But  few  farming  implements  are  men- 
tioned. Rakes,  to  rake  hay,  have  been  no- 
ticed.    In  — 

1769  sent   to    Abijah    Babcock's    on    y"" 

Tower    Hill    one    Dozen    Sythe    Sneads 

to   sell.     Wm   Dyre  bought    2    y^   same 

year.     1770  Jeffry  Watson    bought  one. 

Husbandry    is    defined    as    consisting    of 

"  Howing,    Ploughing,    Walling,    Ditching, 

Fencing,     Mowing,    Haying   and    Milking 


124  COLLEGE    TOM 

&ct."  and  also  as  "  any  kind  of  bufinefs  to 
be  done  at  Farming,"  which  is  even  more 
inclusive.  It  was  this  business,  which  is  the 
foundation  of  the  wealth  of  a  country,  that 
engaged  the  labors  of  College  Tom.  Ham- 
pered as  they  were  by  the  evils  of  the 
currency,  the  produce  of  the  land  yet  sup- 
ported a  prosperous  people,  until  the  final 
crash  came,  brought  on  by  the  political  as 
well  as  financial  difficulties,  and  the  fine  farms 
once  so  flourishing  and  productive  were  left 
to  revert  to  their  primeval  condition.  The 
people  as  well  as  the  land  became  im- 
poverished, till  in  due  time  from  the  wrecks 
of  a  purely  agricultural  community  manu- 
factures took  their  rise. 


^5    i^-    "^ 


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i^s 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Feminine  Portion  of  the  Household.  College  Tom's 
Sisters.  Women's  Work.  New  Light  Meeting.  Semp- 
stry  and  Housewifery.  Mrs.  Hazard.  Her  Friends, 
Mrs.  Helme,  Mrs.  Torrey,  and  Mrs.  Robinson.  "  Affair 
against  Mother  Robinson."  The  Kitchen.  Mrs.  Hazard's 
Grandchildren. 

The  record  of  the  life  of  the  feminine  part 
of  College  Tom's  household  is  far  less  full 
than  that  of  the  men.  Some  of  the  great 
houses  are  still  standing  in  which  the  mistress 
of  the  last  century  lived,  and  ruled  her  small 
kingdom.  Many  a  house  was  built  with  a 
fine  gambrel  roof,  giving  good  attic  room,  into 
which  the  slaves  were  locked  at  night.  The 
house  often  had  two  chimneys,  built  quite 
near  together  in  the  middle,  taking  up  what 
in  modern  times  would  be  used  for  a  hall. 
One  of  these  chimneys  was  the  kitchen 
chimney,  with  its  great  open  fireplace  and 
brick  oven  built  into  the  side  of  it.  College 
Tom's  house  had  only  one  main  chimney, 
but  that  was  twenty-three  feet  wide  at  its 
base.^     Pewter  dishes,  brass  and  iron  pots, 

^  Narragansett  Hist.  Register,  p.  293. 


126  COLLEGE    TOM 

and  "  pot  hooks  and  trammels  "  by  which 
the  pots  for  boiling  were  hung,  were  valu- 
able enough  to  be  bequeathed  by  will.  Rob- 
ert Hazard,  the  father  of  College  Tom, 
mentions  twenty-one  silver  spoons  in  his 
will ;  "  the  largest  silver  spoons,"  silver  "  salt 
spoons,"  and  "  other  silver  spoons,"  he  calls 
them.  Sarah,  his  daughter,  who  afterward 
married  Job  Watson,  has  half  "  of  all  my 
Pewter  Brass  Iron  and  Wooden  vessels " 
left  her,  "  two  feather  beds  with  furniture," 
with  one  half  of  the  tables  and  chairs,  and 
also  of  "  Cupboard,  Desk  and  Chests."  She 
is  to  have  the  privilege  of  living  in  the  man- 
sion house  with  her  mother  until  her  mar- 
riage. Isabel  and  Phoebe,  two  slaves,  are 
given  her,  and  a  thousand  pounds  old  tenor, 
within  a  year  of  her  father's  death.  The 
married  daughter,  Mary  Champlin,  having 
probably  had  a  wedding  portion,  has  only 
silver  spoons,  and  five  hundred  pounds.^ 
Ten  years  later  Stephen  Champlin,  her  hus- 
band, died,  and  there  seems  to  have  been 
some  trouble  over  the  will,  which  Thomas 
Hazard  settled.  A  farm  was  left  to  a 
younger  son,  Robert  Champlin,  which  had 
still  two  years'  lease  to  run.    Stephen  Champ- 

^  South  Kins'stowii  Records. 


MARY  CHAMP  LIN  12/ 

lin,  who  is  called  the  "  Son  and  Heir  at  Law," 
and  also  the  executor  and  residuary  legatee, 
in  consideration  of  a  lease  made  to  him  by 
his  mother,  "  and  for  the  Love,  Goodwill 
&  affection  which  I  have  and  Do  bear  to- 
wards my  said  Brother  Robert  Champlin  .  .  . 
and  for  Promoting  &  efstablifliing  a  lafting 
Peace  unity  and  Harmony  throughout  our 
Whole  ffamily,"  relinquishes  his  share  of 
the  rent  for  the  two  years  the  farm  is  still 
let.  This  paper  is  drawn  by  College  Tom 
himself,  in  his  hand  throughout,  and  wit- 
nessed by  himself  and  his  wife.  It  seems 
to  give  indication  of  much  family  discussion, 
and  one  looks  with  interest  to  see  the  other 
lease.  It  also  exists,  written  in  the  same 
hand,  bearing  the  same  date,  February  5, 
1772,  —  a  lease  of  five  years  from  Stephen 
Champlin  to  his  mother  of  a  portion  of  a 
house  situated  in  Point  Judith,  "  under  the 
yearly  rent  of  one  Pepper  Corn  to  be  paid 
unto  the  said  Stephen  Champlin,  his  heirs  & 
afsigns  always  upon  the  25"'  day  of  ye  third 
month  in  every  year  of  the  said  term." 

This  is  the  old  date  of  Lady-day  for 
leases,  though  the  consideration  is  some- 
what unusual.  Poor  lady,  she  only  lived  to 
pay  the  peppercorn  one  year,  for  before  the 


128  COLLEGE    TOM 

second  25th  of  March  came  round,  she  had 
joined  her  husband,  having  died  on  the  17th 
of  that  month,  1773. 

In  a  farming  community  the  women 
ahvays  have  an  important  part  of  the  work 
to  perform.  They  looked  after  curing  the 
feathers  which  composed  the  much  valued 
feather  beds.  The  dairy  with  all  its  labors 
was  their  care,  to  say  nothing  of  preparing 
the  food  for  the  hungry  farm  hands.  The  ac- 
count book  of  Thomas,  "  son  of  Rob*,"  gives 
only  scanty  details  of  the  work  done  by 
these  worthy  women.  In  1756  Sarah  Pugh, 
as  she  is  sometimes  called,  or  Pew  at  others, 
worked  for  nineteen  weeks  at  twenty  shil- 
lings a  week.  The  kind  of  work  is  not  spe- 
cified. In  the  same  year  Lowes  Jakeways, 
spinster,  worked  ten  weeks  at  the  same  price. 
She  is  charged  with  — 

\  yard   Linnen   Cloth  at   28  shilHngs 

\  skein  of  Thrad  at   i   shilling  3  pence 

To  20  shillings  in  cafli  when  she  went  to 

the  New  Light  meeting. 
This  is  a  reference  to  one  of  the  sects 
spoken  of  by  Dr.  McSparran  as  abounding 
in  Narragansett.  The  Friends  meeting  rec- 
ords have  several  mentions  of  them,  and 
they  evidently  gave  a  good  deal  of  trouble 


NEIV  LIGHT  MEETINGS  1 29 

to  the  orderly  minds  of  Friends.  One  man 
as  early  as  1 748  is  denied  his  membership 
because  he  suffered  Friends  meeting  "  to  be 
disturbed  &  broken  up  by  the  afores*^  Wild 
&  Ranting  people,  which  meeting  was  in 
his  own  houfe."  ^  Twenty  years  later  they 
were  still  flourishing,  and  a  Friend  is  cast 
out,  as  he  had  joined  himself  in  communion 
with  "  the  people  Called  New  lights  and 
pretended  to  Justifie  himself  in  being  Dipf^ 
in  outward  water."  ^  They  are  called  a 
"  Diforderly  people,"  and  are  apparently  of 
"  dark  and  erroneous  principles."  A  paper 
is  on  record  where  a  good  Friend  condemns 
his  conduct  as  follows  :  — 

"  I  did  sometime  past  Inconsiderately  at- 
tend a  meeting  of  the  people  called  New 
Lights  and  so  far  joined  with  them  in  their 
worship  as  to  pull  of  my  hatt  which  incon- 
siderate conduct  of  mine  I  freely  condemn." 
It  seems  a  little  strange  that  a  woman  work- 
ing for  College  Tom  should  have  been 
allowed  to  attend  a  meeting  so  much  disap- 
proved of  by  the  society,  but  it  is  another 
instance  of  the  strong  individuality  fostered 
in  Narragansett.     In   1757,  Sarah  Bent  did 

1  South  Kingstown  Monthly  M.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  269. 
3  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  199. 


130  COLLEGE    TOM 

some  work  at  twenty-five  shillings  a  week. 
The  wages  increase  with  the  depreciation 
of  the  currency,  as  before  noticed,  and  in 
an  agreement  of  1759  comes  an  interesting 
provision  for  furnishing  shoes  at  much  less 
than  the  usual  rate.  There  may  have  been 
a  shoemaker  in  the  house,  as  there  was  in 
1762,  for  in  the  year  of  this  agreement 
some  shoes  cost  six  pounds  a  pair.  Wo- 
men's shoes  of  the  last  century  were,  how- 
ever, much  thinner  than  those  worn  by  the 
stronger  sex. 

6th  Qf  jst  Mo  A:  D:  1759  Mary  Dick 
began  to  Work  and  is  to  Work  until  y^ 
I'*  of  y''  4  mo  @  30/  p'  Week  &  from 
that  Time  until  y^  end  of  ye  eleventh 
month  @  40/  p'  Week  that  is  to  say  8 
months  of  y^  year  at  40/  &  4  at  30/ 
And  she  is  to  have  Two  pair  of  Shoes  in 
y^  Year  at  ^4  the  Pair,  she  to  do  the 
Houfehold  work  &  ye  Dairy  both  Butter 
and  Cheese  and  other  Bufsiness  when 
Necefsary. 

Martha  Nichols,  probably  a  relative  of  the 
worthy  tailor,  has  20  shillings  for  "making  i 
Gound."  Sempstry  is  done  by  "Joanna 
Dugglass  Single  woman,"  who  in  1764 
worked  eleven  weeks  at  seventy-two  shil- 


WOMEN'S  WAGES  131 

lings  a  week.  For  quilting  she  had  eigh- 
teen shillings  a  day,  and  we  can  imagine  the 
busy  quilting  bees  at  which  she  presided. 
The  one  in  this  year  lasted  ten  days.  Two 
years  later  Mary  Chase  agreed  to  work  for 
one  year  "  at  the  Value  of  50  shillings  old 
Tenor  p'  Week  for  the  Summer  Seafon  & 
forty  for  the  Winter  Seafon.  She  is  to 
work  at  Houfewifery  Spinning  &:c." 

Sarah  Grossman  is  mentioned  as  doing 
tailoring  in  1761,  and  Eunice  Nichols,  tail- 
orefs,  has  a  long  account  in  1776;^  Jane 
Nash  was  another  workwoman,  and  Amy 
Shearman  has  in  1755  "one  pound  in  Cafh 
to  pay  for  making  her  Bonet."  Sarah 
Pugh  already  mentioned  has  "  2  Shillings 
in  Cafh  to  buy  a  Comb,"  and  in  1761  "^8 
in  Cafli  out  of  Pigg  money."  The  follow- 
ing year  "  14"^  7"°  Sarah  Pugh  left  us." 
These  women's  accounts  are  entered  thus 
minutely,  and  the  money  paid  often  directly 
to  James  Helme.  One  woman  has  "  Eight 
pounds  in  Cash  to  go  to  Tower  Hill," 
which  a  woman  in  our  day  would  prefer, 
leaving  her  at  liberty  to  buy  what  she 
wanted  at  the  country  store;  though  an- 
other apparently  has  given   notice   of   her 

"^Appendix,  Accounts  of  1776. 


132  COLLEGE    TOM 

intended  purchases,  for  she  is  charged  with 
money,  "  When  She  Went  to  James  Helme's 
to  buy  her  a  Skirt  &c."  Lowes  Jakeways' 
account  is  "  Difcounted  with  James  Helme  " 
directly,  she  apparently  having  little  to  do 
with  it. 

Death  entered  the  kitchen,  and  took  the 
kindly  workers,  as  in  the  case  of  Phillis. 
"Venibee  departed  this  Life  the  3'*^  of  the 
i"'  month  T759,"  we  find,  and  then  comes 
an  entry  in  quite  a  different  part  of  the 
book : — 

Borrowed  of    Tho'  Brown  53    feet  of 

pine  Board  to  make  a  Coffin  for  Venibee 

which  he  seemed  willing  to  part  with. 
Written  across  this  is  Paid  y^  Boards. 

Beside  these  experienced  women  there 
must  have  been  the  children  of  the  old 
slaves  who  were  useful  in  the  household. 

Thomas  Hazard,  Jr.,  writes  to  Rowland 
Hazard :  — 

New  Bedford,  July  8,  1803. 

Patience,  that  our  father  and  mother 
brought  up  has  been  here  about  ten  days. 
She  is  very  much  deranged  and  so  trouble- 
some in  our  house,  that  I  was  obliged  to 
apply  to  the  authorities  and  have  her  sent 


THE   CHILDREN'S  SCHOOL  133 

to  the  work-house  where  she  now  is,  as 
we  do  not  know  in  what  town  in  the  state 
of  Rhode  Island  she  belongs.  I  shall  be 
much  obliged  by  thy  informing  me  immedi- 
ately on  receipt  of  this,  what  town  has  to 
maintain  her  so  that  our  selectmen  may 
take  the  necessary  steps  to  get  her  where 
she  belongs,  and  to  be  clear  of  the  expense 
and  trouble  of  her.  We  are  all  as  well  as 
usual.  With  much  love  to  dear  Mother,  thy 
wife  and  children  in  which  mine  join, 
Thy  affectionate  brother, 
Thomas  Hazard,  Jr. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  the  life 
which  this  "  dear  Mother  "  lived  in  the  early 
days  of  her  marriage.  She  had  the  sorrow 
of  losing  her  oldest  child,  her  only  daughter, 
at  the  age  of  six  years,  in  1753,  and  a  baby 
boy  who  only  lived  four  months.  Robert, 
the  oldest  son,  was  sent  to  school  at  a  very 
tender  age.  A  record  in  exceedingly  faint 
ink  tells  us  that  — 

Betty  and  Robert  began  to  go  to  school 

to  Rachel  Nichols  the  [obliterated]  6  mo 

A  :  D :  1758    Rob'  went  but  2  weeks. 

Which  one  can  hardly  wonder  at,  as  he  was 

only  four  and  a  half  years   old.     Again  we 

find,— 


134  COLLEGE   TOM 

Robert  left  off  School  the  4*'^  of  Octob' 

y'^  7^'*  day  of  ye  week  1 760. 

There  were  no  Saturday  holidays,  evi- 
dently. 

One  longs  for  fuller  details  of  the  visits 
which  were  made  to  the  hospitable  farm. 
What  a  winter  journey  that  must  have  been 
when  — 

Richard  Smith  of   Philadelphia  Came 

to  my  Houfe  23"^  of  y^  12*''  mo  Set  out 

for  boston  the  26'''  1757 
Doubtless  there  were  other  visitors,  but  no 
record  of  them  is  preserved. 

In  1 77 1,  there  was  a  question  before  the 
meeting  which  must  have  interested  the 
women,  and  sounds  to  us  very  modern,  for 
it  is  the  same  question  England  is  still  dis- 
cussing, of  the  propriety  of  marrying  a  de- 
ceased wife's  sister.  A  year  later  the  mat- 
ter was  referred  to  the  quarterly  meeting, 
and  with  the  fairness  of  Friends  the  question 
was  put,  — 

"  Query  to  be  able  to  marry  a  deceased 

wife's     Sister     or    Deceafed    Husband's 

Brother  and  what  is  necefsary  to  be  done 

in  such  Cafes."  ^ 

Was  it  some  special  case  which  excited 

^  South  Kingstowti  Monthly  M.  R.,  vol.  ii.  p.  267. 


THE   GRANDCHILDREN  1 35 

this  action?  One  can  fancy  the  long  dis- 
cussions of  it,  in  those  days  of  ample  lei- 
sure, on  the  long  afternoon  visits  to  the  great 
farmhouses.  Good  dame  Hazard  seems  to 
have  taken  little  share  in  the  women's  meet- 
ings, or  even  in  the  festivities.  She  is  at 
Nailer  Tom's  wedding,  but  many  of  the 
marriage  certificates  upon  which  the  Thomas 
Hazard,  fon  of  Robert,  is  found,  have  no 
Elizabeth  Hazard  near  it.  Her  farm,  her 
garden,  and  her  children  would  keep  her 
busy,  while  from  her  house  on  Tower  Hill 
she  could  look  into  Newport  Harbor,  and 
count  the  ships  as  they  sailed  in  and  out. 
When  her  grandchildren,  the  children  of 
her  youngest  son,  Rowland,  were  born  in 
her  house,  she  is  said  to  have  been  tenderly 
anxious  over  them,  and  especially  devoted 
to  the  second  boy,  who  was  named  after  her 
husband  and  her  father,  Thomas  Robinson. 
The  reminiscences  of  Shepherd  Tom,  as  in 
later  years  he  liked  to  call  himself,  have 
often  been  alluded  to  in  these  pages.  No 
passage  is  more  charming  than  that  in  w^hich 
he  describes  his  efforts  as  a  five-year-old 
boy  to  cut  a  log  for  his  grandmother's  fire, 
beginning  early  in  the  morning  and  finally 
rolling  it  in  triumph  into  her   sitting-room 


136  COLLEGE    TOM 

at  dusk.  Many  were  the  approving  glances 
which  followed  him  during  the  day,  and  the 
intervals  of  rest,  in  which  kisses  and  dough- 
nuts played  an  important  part.^  In  the 
early  life  of  this  good  lady.  Tower  Hill  was 
still  the  seat  of  the  court  house  and  the 
centre  of  the  social  life  of  the  country.  It 
was  here  that  Judge  Helme  lived,  the  Chief 
Justice  chosen  by  the  general  assembly  in 
1767,  who  distinguished  himself  for  capacity 
and  application.^  With  the  versatility  of  the 
time,  he  united  several  pursuits,  —  he  kept 
the  country  store  and  for  a  year  or  two  took 
the  product  of  cheese  from  the  farm.  His 
wife,  Esther  Powell,  the  granddaughter  of 
Gabriel  Bernon,  must  have  been  a  charm- 
ing woman ;  "  the  dearest,  the  best,  the  ten- 
derest  wife,"  her  bereaved  husband  calls  her, 
when  in  1764  she  died  of  "a  pain  in  her 
breast,  with  great  difficulty  in  breathing,"  ^ 
for  which  the  modern  name  would  be  pneu- 
monia. The  letters  of  her  husband  are 
most  beautiful  in  the  expression  of  his  deep 
attachment,  to  this  "dear  dead  partner" 
who  has  "  left  not  her  equal  behind  her." 
The  whole  family  circle  must  have  been  a 

1  R.  I.Jonny-Cake  Papers,  p.  234. 

2  Updike,  p.  336.  3  /^/^.^  p.  136. 


JUDGE  HELME  1 37 

delightful  one.  It  was  Judge  Helme  him- 
self who  plotted  the  Boston  Neck  purchase 
for  old  Thomas  Hazard ;  his  son  Powel  in- 
structed Robert  Hazard  (son  of  College 
Tom)  in  "  the  Art  of  Navigation  in  part,"  as 
before  noticed,  and  was  credited  for  his 
teaching  against  pounds  of  chocolate.  The 
horse  which  played  a  part  in  that  trans- 
action is  called  "ye  Coddington  Horse," 
which  belonged  to  Mrs.  Helme's  uncle,  as 
Colonel  Coddington  married  Jane  Bernon, 
a  daughter  of  Gabriel  Bernon.  A  sister  of 
Mrs.  Helme's  was  the  wife  of  Mr.  Seabury, 
the  clergyman  at  New  London,  and  the 
stepmother  of  the  first  American  bishop, 
who  may  have  been  the  nephew  who  visited 
Mr.  Helme  at  Tower  Hill.^  The  Helmes 
seem  to  have  been  very  liberal  in  their  reli- 
gious beliefs,  and  it  is  pleasant  to  see  that 
in  spite  of  the  lawsuit  going  on  about  the 
ministerial  lands,  Dr.  McSparran  and  Dr. 
Torrey  must  have  been  on  good  terms  per- 
sonally. Dr.  Torrey  married  James  Helme 
and  Esther  Powell  in  1738,  while  Dr.  Mc- 
Sparran baptized  the  first  child,  with  Colonel 
Coddington,  his  wife,  and  daughter  as  sure- 
ties, a  couple  of  years  later.  Some  years  later 

1  Updike,  p.  138. 


138  COLLEGE    TOM 

still,  Dr.  McSparran  baptized  two  more  chil- 
dren and  read  the  visitation  service  for  Mrs. 
Helme's  mother,  who  shortly  after  died, 
and  he  preached  her  funeral  sermon  in  Dr. 
Torrey's  meeting-house.^ 

Mrs.  Torrey  lived  a  little  below  the  hill. 
It  was  she  who  brought  the  Spanish  milled 
dollars  for  the  purchase  of  a  cow  in  Con- 
necticut. She  was  a  Willson,  of  the  family 
of  the  Pettaquamscut  purchaser,  and  a  rela- 
tive of  that  Jeremiah  who  wrote  the  note 
asking  for  sugar,  after  his  "very  ill  turn  of 
sickness."  Across  the  Pettaquamscut  on 
the  Robinson  estate  lived  Anstis  Gard- 
ner, the  charming  wife  of  Dame  Hazard's 
brother,  Rowland  Robinson.  There  is  men- 
tion of  money  in  Rowland  Robinson's  ac- 
count in  College  Tom's  book,  which  "my 
Wife  lent  his  Wife,  in  her  last  sickness." 
There  were  many  connections  on  both 
sides  of  the  family,  in  South  Kingstown, 
Conanicut  and  Newport.  Latham  Clarke 
married  Martha,  the  sister  next  youngest  to 
Elizabeth  Hazard,  and  in  1752,  in  spite  of 
Quaker  principles,  there  is  a  — 

Memorandum  in  the  affair  carried  on 

by   Latham   Clarke   and   myself   against 

1  Updike,  pp.  165,  166. 


AFFAIR   OF  MOTHER  ROBINSON       1 39 

Mother  Robinson.  The  Expenses  to  be 
equally  Borne  between  us  Viz'  —  to  a  fee 
in  s*^  affair. 

To  Mathew  Robinfon  to  engage  as 
attorney  for  us  £\2.  00.  00 

To  £\  to  David  Richards  as  an  attorney 
for  us  4.  00.  00 

The  next  year  the  case  was  continued 
and  forty  shillings  were  paid  — 

to  Augustus  Johnfon  at  Providence  for 
drawing  and  entering  reafon  of  appeal  (on 
the  ace'  of  admi"  on  the  eftate  of  W"" 
Robinfon,  late  dec"^.  prefented  to  y^  Town 
Council  of  So  Kingstown  and  allowed  by 
them,  &  appealed  from  by  us  to  the  Gov- 
ernor &  General  Council,  which  sat  at  s"^ 
Providence.) 

This  "  Mother  Robinson "  was  the  step- 
mother of  the  two  ladies.  She  had  been  the 
widow  of  Caleb  Hazard,  originally  Abigail 
Gardner,  daughter  of  William  Gardner  of 
Boston  Neck,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Dr.  McSparran, 
and  aunt  of  Rowland  Robinson's  wife.-^  So 
closely  were  all  the  families  of  Narragansett 
connected  that  this  affair  must  have  made 
some  commotion,  and  given  endless  food 
for  gossip  over  cups  of  strong  Bohea  tea. 

^  Updike,  pp.  125,  126. 


I40  COLLEGE    TOM 

William  Robinson  left  to  each  of  these  two 
daughters  seven  hundred  pounds  in  bills  of 
credit  of  old  tenor,  one  good  bed  and  bed- 
ding and  a  silver  porringer,^  but  their  step- 
sisters each  had  twelve  hundred  pounds  and 
a  negro  girl,  so  that  may  have  been  the  cause 
of  complaint  against  "  Mother  Robinson." 
The  Friends  Meeting  Records  contain  no 
mention  of  it,  though  Friends  are  often 
appointed  to  deal  with  those  who  go  to 
law,  and  the  lawsuit  of  "  Tommy  Hazard  the 
Blacksmith  "  and  Nicholas  Easton  is  fully 
detailed  upon  its  pages.  So  it  was  proba- 
bly with  the  advice  and  consent  of  various 
Friends  that  this  step  was  taken. 

The  ladies  of  the  neighborhood  had 
their  tea  and  chocolate  at  enormous  prices  ; 
the  tea  at  from  three  to  six  pounds  a  pound, 
and  the  chocolate  at  forty-two  shillings. 
A  little  velvet  is  mentioned  in  1768  at  ^13 
a  yard.  Binding  for  a  Pettycote  in  1761 
cost  fifteen  shillings,  and  buttons  were  a 
shilling  apiece.  Thread,  a  little  earlier,  was 
one  shilling  and  sixpence  a  skein.  In  the 
kitchen  things  were  very  expensive  also ; 
pepper  was  twelve  shillings  an  ounce  in  1 753, 
with  nutmeg  at  the  same  price.     A  flask  of 

1  S.  K.  Records,  William  Robinson's  Will. 


ELIZABETH  HAZARD  141 

oil  in  1755  cost  twenty-six  shillings,  and 
raisins  were  eight  shillings  a  pound  shortly 
before. 

It  is  delightful  to  find  the  charming  fam- 
ily relations  which  existed,  and  the  devotion 
of  her  sons  to  Elizabeth  Hazard.  In  1801 
Thomas,  the  second  son,  writes,  "  I  hope 
my  dear  mother  has  ere  this  received  her 
flannel,  and  that  the  quality  of  it  is  such  as 
suits  her,  it  being  the  finest  I  could  find  in 
the  town  of  Boston  where  I  procured  it." 
She  had  a  hard  trial  to  go  through  with 
the  illness  and  failure  of  her  husband,  but 
was  aided  and  sustained  through  it  by  her 
daughter-in-law.  The  changes  of  the  time 
must  have  been  hard  for  her  also,  for  the 
whole  country  became  greatly  impoverished 
in  her  latter  days,  and  she  lived  to  see  a 
new  order  of  thino^s. 

Under  date  of  South  Kingstown,  Novem- 
ber 13,  1796,  her  daughter-in-law  writes  to 
her  husband,  Rowland  Hazard,  at  Charles- 
town  :  "  Thy  mother  desires  her  love  to 
thee,  my  father's  and  brother's  families,  and 
says  she  wishes  thee  would  come  home. 
She  thinks  if  thee  were  here  everything 
would  go  on  easy.  I  have  no  doubt  it 
would  relieve  her  mind  of  a  great  deal  of 
anxiety." 


142  COLLEGE    TOM 

The  son  did  come  for  part  of  each  year, 
both  the  older  brothers  having  left  home, 
and  the  grandchildren  continued  to  be  her 
pleasure  and  comfort.  She  survived  her 
husband,  and  died  in  1803,  beloved  by  all 
who  knew  her. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

Thomas  Hazard's  Farming.  The  Susquehanna  Company. 
"A  Letter  from  Quebeck."  Paper  Money.  Varieties 
of  Coins.  Lending  Money.  Lotteries.  Revolutionary 
Days.  Non-resistance.  "Trash."  Rate  Bills.  Cattle 
Distrained. 

From  the  study  of  the  account  book  of 
Thomas  Hazard  son  of  Robert,  it  is  evident 
that  agriculture  was  the  main  business  of 
his  life,  as  was  the  case  with  all  the  Narra- 
gansett  planters.  His  homestead  farm,  which 
by  will  he  leaves  to  his  eldest  son,  ran  from 
the  "  county  Rhode,"  that  is,  the  Pequot 
path  of  the  early  days,  eastward  till  it  was 
bounded  by  the  Pettaquamscut  River  and 
cove.  The  sedge  rights  are  also  bequeathed 
with  this  farm,  which  is  called  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  acres.  To  his  youngest 
son  he  leaves  a  farm  on  the  west  of  the 
road  of  about  the  same  size.  These  are  the 
only  farms  mentioned  especially,  the  rest  is 
spoken  of  as  "  all  the  Remainder  of  my 
Lands  and  real  Estate."  He  had  his  grand- 
father's love  of  land,  and  beside  what  was 


144  COLLEGE    TOM 

left  him  by  his  father  and  grandfather  added 
to  his  estate  by  purchase.  In  1764  he 
bought  land  in  Westerly  and  "  Charles 
Town "  and  later  some  in  Cranston  and 
Dartmouth.  The  price  of  land  near  home 
was  very  variable.  In  1778  one  acre  was 
bought  from  Peleg  Peckham  for;^2i,and 
ten  years  later  Jeremiah  Willson  sold  thirty- 
seven  acres  for  ninety  pounds. 

Beside  the  land  in  South  Kingstown, 
Thomas  Hazard  and  his  brothers  Jonathan 
and  Richard  were  left  joint  heirs  to  their 
father's  interest  in  the  "  Susquehanna  Com- 
pany "  in  which  he  is  called  a  proprietor. 
This  company  held  its  meetings  at  Hart- 
ford, or  at  Windham  in  Connecticut,  and  in 
1768,  Thomas  Hazard  made  a  journey  to 
the  latter  place  to  transact  business,  on  his 
brother  Jonathan's  account  as  well  as  his 
own,  and  also  for  S.  Hazard,  —  probably  one 
of  the  many  Stephen  Hazards,  —  who  gives 
a  power  of  attorney  to  "  my  Friend  Thomas 
Hassard,  of  South  Kingstown."  Richard, 
the  third  brother,  died  in  1762  as  before 
mentioned.  His  son  Robert's  affairs  seem 
to  have  fallen  into  some  disorder,  for  in 
1776  he  signs  a  release  of  guardianship  to 
Thomas,  his  uncle,  "  not  meaning  hereby 


xMr- 


n 


I 


A   LETTER  FROM  QUEBECK  145 

to  discharge  my  former  Guardian  Enoch 
Hazard  for  any  demands  I  have  against 
him." ' 

But  the  money  of  the  time  presented 
great  difiFiculties.  As  early  as  1 747,  there 
were  those  who  saw  that  the  country  was 
standing  on  treacherous  ground.  Among 
the  papers  is  "  a  copy  of  a  Letter  from  Oue- 
beck,"  written  from  a  French  point  of  view 

and  addressed  to  "  Pr.  M r  in  France," 

dated  October  1 1,  1 747.-  The  "  fmall  petty 
Colony  of  Rhode-Island^'  is  declared  to  have 
"200  Sail  of  Veffels  belonging  to  it  and 
if  the  Governments  are  fuffered  to  go  on 
making  Paper  Money,  they  will  drive  us  out 
of  this  Part  of  the  World,  without  any  Help 
from  their  Mother  Country."  The  making 
of  paper  money  enabled  the  New  England- 
ers  to  send  home  "  vast  Quantities  of  Gold 
and  Silver,"  the  writer  continues,  "  having 
no  use  for  the  fame,  so  long  as  Paper  Cur- 
rency anfwers  for  a  Medium  of  Trade." 
But  the  "  Farmers  and  Tradefmen  have  put 
their  Land  in  Pledge  for  the  Paper  Money 
they  fit  out  fo  many  Veffels  with,"  so  this 

1  Appendix,  Release  of  Guardianship. 

2  Appendix,  Letter  from  Quebeck.     A  copy  of  this  paper 
is  in  the  John  Carter  Brown  librarj'  also. 


146  COLLEGE    TOM 

wily  pamphleteer  advises  sending  large  con- 
signments of  goods  to  friends  of  France, 
who  will  take  only  cash ;  "  and  by  this 
Method  procure  all  the  hard  Money  that 
is  ftirring  amongfl  them,"  at  the  same  time 
petitioning  Parliament  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
issue  of  paper  money  by  the  Colonies.  "  If 
this  Method,  great  Sir,  is  induftrioufly  and 
faithfully  purfued  and  carried  on  we  fhall 
unavoidably  impov'irfh,  diftrefs,  and  con- 
found them:  All  the  lower  Clafs  will  no 
more  be  able  to  pay  for  Clothing  from  their 
Mother  Country,  but  muft  be  contented  to 
live  as  they  did  of  Old,  to  wander  about  in 
Sheep  Skins  and  Goat  Skins  and  to  dwell 
in  Caves  and  Dens  of  the  Earth ;  and  thofe 
of  the  higheft  Clafs  will  be  obliged  to  leffen 
their  Trade,  fell  their  Veffels,  and  no  more 
be  able  to  fend  Home  to  their  Mother 
Country  fuch  Quantities  of  Silver  and  Gold. 
Then  no  more  New  England  Invafions, 
no  more  beating  down  our  walls  at  Cape 
Breton;  and  when  we  have  another  War, 
we  fhall  not  only  have  their  Money,  but 
their  Veffels,  and  their  Men  being  poor 
muft  feek  Shelter  in  fome  foreign  Land." 

How  widely  this  paper  was  circulated,  or 
with  exactly  what  intent,  there  is  no  means 


I 


! 


INFLATED   CURRENCY  1 47 

of  knowing.  The  whole  subject  of  inflated 
currency  has  been  ably  treated,^  and  our 
effort  here  may  be  confined  to  tracing  the 
effects  of  the  legislation  on  the  prosperity 
of  the  community  we  are  chiefly  interested 
in.  Numberless  examples  have  already 
been  given  of  the  complexity  of  accounts. 
Finding  the  burden  intolerable,  in  1766,  the 
General  Assembly,  meeting  at  South  Kings- 
town the  last  Monday  in  February,  passed 
an  act,  reviving  the  act  of  1764  for  the 
"Speedy  calling  in  and  sinking  of  all  bills 
of  credit  .  .  .  called  the  Ninth  Bank  .  .  . 
let  out  upon  loan;  and  likewise  for  putting 
a  final  end  to  the  name  of  Old  Tenor 
throughout  this  colony." 

As  there  was  a  considerable  sum  of  these 
bills  of  credit  outstanding,  this  act  was  to 
"continue  in  full  force  until  all  the  said 
bills  of  credit  emitted  in  the  year  1750  be 
brought  into  the  grand  committee's  office."^ 
This  act  accounts  for  the  double  prices 
which  begin  in  this  year.  The  habit  of  old 
tenor  prices  seems  to  have  been  too  firmly 

1  Rider,  R.  I.  Historical  Tracts,  No.  8.  Weeden,  Eco- 
notnic  and  Social  History  of  N'.  E.,  ch.  xiii.,  The  Period 
of  Inflation. 

^  R.  I.  C.  R.,  vol.  vi.  p.  482. 


148  COLLEGE    TOM 

fixed  to  be  altered  suddenly,  but  a  proper 
effort  to  comply  with  the  law  was  made. 

The  following  year  the  account  book  has 
this  entry :  — 

The  Act  of  the  General  Assembly  for 

Fixing  and  afcertaining  of  Interest  &  for 

preventing  excessive  usury  in  the  Colony 

and  also  for  shortening  y"  Time  for  the 

Redemption  of  mortgages  was  made  at 

the   Session  held   in  the  6*^' mo   1767  to 

Take  place  3  months  afterwards. 

The   country   was   full    of    lawsuits    about 

mortgaged  land.     In  the  absence  of  banks 

each    land-holder   became   a   lender.     The 

variety  of  coin  used  also  complicated  affairs. 

An  entry  in  — 

1758  ^21-10^.  Lawful  money  turned 
in  old  Tenor  at  ^5  10^.  the  doller  — 
makes  a  complicated  sum.     In  1 766  comes 
a  credit  — 

To  3  Pistereens  at  7^!^  Lawful 
Peleg  Peckham,  the  good  Friend  who  took 
cheese,  sends  in  part  payment,  by  his  wife, 
as  duly  entered,  — 

I  piece  of  Gold  of  y^  Value  of  8  DolP^ 
and  4  Dollers  in  Dollers  by  ye  Hand  of 
thy  Wife 
In   1768,  also  for  cheese,   Rowland   Robin- 
son pays  — 


VARIOUS  COINS  149 

13  half  Johannes  equail  to   104  Span, 
milled  Dolers  one  was  Light 
The  "one  was  Light"  should  be  read  in 
parenthesis,  for  clipping  coin  was   not  un- 
known.    This  is  a  puzzling  entry,  for  the 
Johannes  in  the  same  year  is  carried  out  — 
Two  Johannes  in  Gold  to  y^  Value  of 
16  Spanish  Mill'^  Dollers  £a,.  16.  00 

which  counts  eight  dollars  to  the  Johannes 
and  six  shillings  to  the  dollar.  The  former 
entry  counts  the  half  Johannes  at  eight  dol- 
lars also.  It  may  be  a  slip  of  the  pen,  the 
word  half  being  written  by  mistake. 

In    addition    to    these  coins  coppers   are 
also  mentioned :  — 

1774  10'''  mo  Jeffrey  Watson  Jr  D'  To 
I  Vol  of  Sewels  Hiftories  at  18  Shilings 
&   four    Coppers   expenses   on    it    2^    \ 
Rec'd  Two  Dollars  and  four  coppers  of 
Jeffrey  Watson  jun  in  full  12'-,  2^-,  | 
which  makes  a   copper  equal  a  halfpenny 
and  an  eighth  of  a  grain,  and  eighteen  shil- 
lings of  paper  equal  twelve  of  silver.     This 
was   one   of   the   books    subscribed   for  in 
Friends  meeting,  for  which   College   Tom 
was  appointed  to  take  subscriptions. 

College   Tom  lent  money  to  his   neigh- 
bors ;  and  a  few  records  of  such  transactions 


150  COLLEGE    TOM 

are  found.  John  Nichols  was  the  son  of 
the  tailor,  and  one  wishes  the  account  of 
his  journey  was  presented  in  fuller  detail 
than  in  the  following  meagre  entry :  — 

1760  6'^  of  y^  4'*^  mo  Lent  John  Nich- 
ols four  Spanish  MilP  Dollars,  his  Brother 
Andrew  present.  Said  John  Nichols  had 
at  y'  Same  time  four  Spanish  Mill**  dol- 
lars, five  Piftereens  &  Six  half  Pistereens, 
for  which  he  is  to  ace*  for  with  me  when 
he  returns  from  Bofton,  being  about  to 
set  out  on  that  journey. 

^th  ^th  j^Q^  ^r^  gy  2  doUers,  &  ace*  of 
Expenses  on  a  journey  to  Boston,  3  &  a 
\  more. 

1 769  30*''  1 1**"  mo    By  four  Spanish  mill'^ 

Dollers  &  |^  &  yV  o^  3,  Doller  it  being 

in    full  ffor  y^  Dolers   mentioned  above 

together    with    his    expenfe     mentioned 

above. 

There  were  various  dealings  with  "  Cousin 

George  Hazard,"  who  was  in  reality  College 

Tom's  nephew,  but  in  the  old  fashion  is  called 

cousin.     In  this  respect  the    Narragansett 

families  were  very  clannish,  and  remembered 

the  cousinship  to  a  remote  degree.     Indeed 

it  sometimes  happened  that  cousins  of  the 

same  name  were  more  closely  related  on  the 


MONEY  LENDING  15  I 

mother's  side,  so  frequent  were  the   inter- 
marriages.    In  1776  comes  the  entry, — 
Lent   Cousin   George   Hazard  35  dol- 
lars, £\o.  los. 
Then  in  — 

1778     8th    month    4th     day.    Cousin 
George  Hazard,  son  of  Richard,  borrowed 
of  me  37  paper  dollars. 
1779    3rd  month  9th  day. 
George  Hazard,  son  of  Richard,  entered 
and  occupied  part  of  my  house  above  the 
road,  and  is  to  give  me  $9.00  per  annum, 
to  be  paid  in  labour  at  Hufbandry  the  next 
season,  at  3  shillings  per  day  for  mowing 
and  I  &  6  for  Hewing  and  Haying 
The  money  lent  or  borrowed  is  often  speci- 
fied, as  in  1 764,  when  Thomas  Hazard  — 
Rec'^  of  J''  Helme  by  the  hand  of  his 
Son  Powel  y*  sum  of  Eighteen  Pounds  & 
five   Shillings   Lawful  money  so  Call^  of 
1759  date  Exclusine  y^  interest. 
This  was  returned  in  one  month,  as   duly 
entered.     Later  in  1785, — 

3'''^  mo   lo'*"  Lent  Peleg  Peckham  Six 

Silver  Dollars  in  the  old  meeting   Houfe 

the  day  Dan^  Cafs  was  there. 

To   add    to   the   difficulties   of    the    bad 

money,  lotteries  were  in  great  favor.     The 


152  COLLEGE    TOM 

General  Assembly  granted  the  privilege  of 
having  one  for  all  sorts  of  purposes,  both 
public  and  private.  In  1770  one  was 
granted  to  build  a  meeting-house  in  Cran- 
ston, for  some  Baptists  who  complacently 
declare  that  they  are  "  willing  to  devote  part 
of  their  time  to  the  public  worship  of  God."  ^ 
They  were  granted  to  build  roads,  to  repair 
bridges,  to  build  wharves,  or  to  help  people 
who  had  lost  their  property. 

These  were  the  "  days  that  tried  men's 
souls,"  and  the  South  Kingstown  meeting 
was  shaken  by  them,  as  will  appear,  but  the 
account  book  gives  no  evidence  of  it  until  a 
later  date.  Rowland  Robinson  was  a  deputy 
to  the  general  assembly,  in  the  early  seven- 
ties, and  in  1776  went  to  Block  Island  bring- 
ing off  beef  hides.  Block  Island  gave  the 
government  much  uneasiness.  "  The  pecu- 
liar situation  of  Rhode  Island  and  the  exten- 
sive sea  coast  had  not  escaped  my  mind," 
General  Washington  writes  to  Governor 
Cooke ;  "  I  well  know  the  enemy  have  it  in 
their  power  to  do  it  considerable  damage 
unless  there  is  a  sufficient  force  to  repel 
their  attacks."^  April  i,  1776,  three  large 
ships   were   seen   off  Conanicut,   and  Gov- 

^  R.  I.  C.  R.  vol.  vii.  p.  21.  2  Jbid.,  p.  505. 


REVOLUTIONARY  RELATIVES  1 53 

ernor  Cooke  sent  his  son  "  express "  to 
Washington  at  Cambridge  with  the  infor- 
mation. 

Jonathan  Hazard,  College  Tom's  brother, 
to  whom  one  half  of  the  land  west  of  Wor- 
den's  Pond  was  left,  part  of  the  original  pur- 
chase of  1 710,  seems  to  have  moved  there, 
for  in  1776  his  son  Jonathan  was  deputy 
from  Charlestown,  and  in  that  year  was  sent 
to  Block  Island  to  apprehend  John  Wright 
for  furnishing  supplies  or  intelligence  to  the 
king.  His  instructions  are  "  that  Mr.  Haz- 
ard earnestly  exhort  the  inhabitants  of  New 
Shoreham  to  remove  off  from  the  island."  ^ 
He  is  paid  his  expenses  to  Block  Island  to 
"  apprehend  disaffected  persons,"  ;^3  75-.  ^d} 
He  is  also  appointed  one  of  a  committee  to 
examine  suspected  persons,  with  power  to 
view  "  all  desks,  chests,  or  other  suspected 
places  under  lock  or  otherwise." 

Thus  actively  were  members  of  College 
Tom's  family  engaged  in  the  cause  of  lib- 
erty. His  principles  of  non-resistance,  how- 
ever, were  very  firm  ;  there  is  no  indication 
that  he  took  any  part  in  the  struggle,  except 
as  an  exhorter  to  quiet  endurance,  and  a  dis- 
tributer of  aid  to  the  suffering. 

1  R.  I.  C.  R.,  vol.  vii.  p.  541.  2  7^/^.^  p,  ^77. 


154  COLLEGE   TOM 

Matters  were  going  from  bad  to  worse 
with  the  finances  of  the  colony.  The  Colo- 
nial Records  are  full  of  reports  on  the  state 
of  the  money.  The  bills  as  they  became 
due  were  burnt  by  the  proper  officer,  but 
fresh  ones  took  their  place.  A  table  of 
value  of  Spanish  milled  dollars  is  given  in 
an  act  fixing  the  depreciation  of  continental 
bills  for  each  month  after  January,  1777.^ 
One  hundred  Spanish  milled  dollars  at  that 
time  were  worth  a  hundred  and  five  in 
paper.  The  price  rapidly  increases  till  three 
years  later,  in  August,  1780,  they  were  worth 
seven  thousand  paper  dollars,  and  May  30, 
1 78 1,  sixteen  thousand  in  paper.  It  was 
made  obligatory  to  accept  this  depreciated 
paper  in  exchange  for  land,  and  the  general 
distress  can  be  imagined.  During  the  sum- 
mer of  1786  all  business  was  at  a  standstill 
in  Providence  and  Newport,  and  the  farmers 
allowed  their  produce  to  decay  rather  than 
sell  to  the  merchants  at  the  heavy  dis- 
count they  demanded.  The  forcing  act 
was  brought  to  the  test  and  declared  uncon- 
stitutional,   in    September.^     But    the    ruin 

^  R.  I.  C.  R.,  vol.  ix.  pp.  282-424. 

^  Fiske's  Critical  Period  of  American  History,  pp.  173- 
177. 


PROTEST  AGAINST  TRASH  155 

was  already  widespread.  I  have  been  told 
by  the  youngest  granddaughter  of  College 
Tom,  that  she  had  heard  her  mother  re- 
late that  her  grandmother  used  to  say  she 
saw  the  money  go  out  of  the  house  in  bas- 
kets full  of  gold  and  silver,  and  come  back 
in  bundles  of  rags.  Not  every  one  in 
South  Kingstown  accepted  the  "  rags,"  as 
the  spirited  protest  of  William  Knowles 
proves :  ^  — 

Henry  Potter  and  John  Segar  both  of 
South  Kingston  on  oath  say  that  on  the 
twenty-sixth  day  of  Febr'y  last  past  they 
saw  Col.  Samuel  Segar  make  a  tender  of 
the  sum  of  two  thousand  one  hundred  dol- 
lars unto  M'.  William  Knowles  of  s'^  South 
Kingston  to  discharge  two  bonds  &  a  note 
said  Knowles  had  against  said  Segar,  but 
the  s"^  Knowles  refused  to  take  the  same, 
saying  that  he  would  not  take  such  trash 
as  that  was,  but  if  s^  Samuel  Segar  would 
pay  him  &  in  the  same  sort  of  money  the 
said  Segar  had  of  the  said  Knowles  he 
would  take  it. 

(Signed)  Henry  Potter. 

John  Segar. 

1  Now  in  the  Hazard  Memorial,  Peace  Dale,  with  the 
paper  money  tendered. 


156  COLLEGE    TOM 

Kings  County  to  wit  South  Kingston 
March  nth  1780  Henry  Potter  &  John 
Segar  subscribers  to  the  above  Deposition 
made  Oath  to  the  Truth  of  the  same  in 
order  to  perpetuate  the  same. 

Before  Carder  Hazard,  J.  C.  Pleas. 
S.  Perry,  Jus.  Peace. 
William  Knowles 

cited  but  did  not  attend. 


^     S  X 

.8      ^ 


H 
O 


iv; 

^ 

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J 

(^ 

s 

^ 

M 

0 

C/5 

0 

C^       J^ 

n 

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S 

C/i 

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> 


In  April,  1 780,  money  was  at  4000  paper 
dollars  for  100  silver,  and  it  is  small  wonder 
it  is  called  "  such  trash." 

But  Thomas  Hazard  carried  out  his  Qua- 
ker principles.  He  enters  his  Rate  bill  this 
year  and  the  following,  and  makes  the  entry 
for  his  son  as  well :  — 

Rate  Bill  1780  Sign^  by  Rob'  Potter 

Town  Treafurer  for  Raifmg  Continental 

Soldiers,  Silver  money  ^8  ^s.  3^. 


I 


CATTLE  DISTRAINED  15/ 

Clafs  Bill  the  Same  year  Sign"^  by  the 
above  Tho^  Potter  &ct  \_sic\  the  above 
named  committee  ^5  7^.  od. 

1 78 1.  Rate  Bill  3rd  mo  4th  day,  signed 
by  Tho'  Potter,  John  Gardner,  Rob'  Brown 
&  Sam'  Babcock. 

Clafs  money  Silver  £\^     \s.  6d. 

Rowland  Hazard  o     i     6 

State  Tax  Silver  money  18   15     4 

^34     i^.  4^. 
Dated  iS"'  i^'  1781 

Sign'^  by  Jos'"  Clarke  gen'  Treafurer. 
1 78 1.     Continental  money  tax  1781  warr' 
from  the  General  Treafurer      £ii'j6.  6.  o 
Continental  Town  Tax   signed  by   Rob' 
Potter,  Town  Treasurer  238.  10.  o 

Rate    Bill,    dated  of  month, 

A.  D.  1 780  warrant  sign''  by de- 
mand ^2.9^.  6d. 
Taken  by  Timothy  Peckham  Collecf  one 
yearling  bull  price  ^3  125.  ood.  hard 
Money,  and  one  yearling  Heipher  price 
£2,  00s.  ood. 

The  distrained  cattle  show  how  he  carried 
out  his  convictions,  and  suffered  their  loss 
rather  than  support  the  "carnal  war  and 
fightings  "  which  disturbed  the  meeting  so 
much. 


158  COLLEGE    TOM 

Some  of  the  latest  entries  in  the  book 
find  him  still  submissive,  — 

One  cow  taken  by  Dan'  Shearman,  9th 
month  4th  day  1782  I  know  not  his  De- 
mand by  inquiry  it  appeared  He  did  not 
come  to  y^  Houfe,  but  spoke  to  Rob'  in 
the  field. 
A  fortnight  later  — 

The  20'^^  9th  mo,  1782  Willson  Pol- 
lock Collector  Took  Four  of  my  best 
Cows  all  giving  milk  he  said  that  he  had 
several  Taxes  againft  me  amounting  to 
£ZZ  ^  upward  hard  money  But  shew 
no  warrant  or  order  from  authority  I 
accidentally  saw  him  with  the  Cows  as  he 
drove  them  up  the  Lane  that  leads  to  the 
Highway  westward  from  my  Dwelling 
House.  (Signed)    Th°  Hazard. 

So  he  put  himself  on  record  as  suffering 
for  conscience'  sake.  In  1 789  Rhode  Island 
finally  signed  the  constitution,  having  run 
through  almost  all  possible  evils  with  her 
currency.  She  was  the  last  of  all  the  colo- 
nies to  yield  to  the  common  good,  —  her 
excessive  individuality  having  been  at  once 
the  source  of  her  strength  and  her  weak- 
ness. 


i-^  i  '^^^^ 


'4  'I 


KIGHT     DOLLAK     BILL 


CHAPTER  X. 

Friends  Meeting  Records.  Curious  Entries.  Thomas  Haz- 
ard's First  Service.  Slavery.  First  Visit  of  John  Wool- 
man.  Slave  Laws  and  Apprenticeship  Papers.  Woolman's 
Second  Visit.  Friends'  Testimony  in  Regard  to  Slavery. 
The  Rathbun  Case.  1773,  Friends  Clear  of  Slavery.  Act 
of  1773-  Primus.  Letter  from  John  Pemberton.  Act 
of  1784.  Providence  Society  for  Abolishing  the  Slave 
Trade. 

Before  me,  as  I  write,  lies  a  fine  leather 
covered  book,  of  two  hundred  and  eighty 
quarto  pages,  closely  written,  in  the  hand  of 
the  last  century,  and  inscribed  on  the  inside 
cover,  — 

The  Monthly  Meeting  of  South  Kings- 
town^ first  Book  of  Records  y^  9''  oi  y' 

^th  j^o   ly^T,  No    I. 

This  is  the  first  of  the  eight  volumes  now 
extant  belonging  to  the  meeting,  for  the 
early  records  which  would  possibly  contain 
some  mention  of  George  Fox  himself,  and 
Chalkley,  and  the  early  founders,  were  de- 
stroyed by  fire  many  years  ago.  Fortu- 
nately for  the  reader  who  desires  to  follow 


l6o  COLLEGE    TOM 

the  life  of  Thomas  Hazard,  it  is  quite  early 
enough  for  him,  and  his  marriage  in  1742  is 
duly  recorded  in  the  proper  place.  Here 
are  hidden  away  records  of  the  scandals 
of  the  country-side,  the  "  dealings "  with 
Friends  for  dishonest  behavior,  the  discipline, 
and  papers  of  denial  which  were  solemnly 
read  in  meeting.  And  with  these  serious 
offenses  against  the  "  Light  of  Truth  "  are 
those  which  were  quite  as  severely  dealt 
with,  though  now  they  only  cause  a  smile. 
One  young  man  was  brought  to  a  sense  of 
his  misconduct  and  presented  "  a  paper  of 
Condemnation  .  .  .  concerning  his  outgo- 
ings in  dancing  in  a  Light  &  airy  Manner ;  "  ^ 
and  going  to  an  entertainment  "  Subsequent 
to  a  Marriage  at  which  was  Mufick  Dancing 
and  vain  mirth  "  ^  is  a  cause  of  offense  for 
which  John  Rose  is  dealt  with  by  Thomas 
Hazard  and  Peleg  Peckham,  who  are  ap- 
pointed for  that  service.  But  the  young 
man  was  obdurate  and  appeared  "  not  in  a 
Dispofition  to  Condemn  his  outgoing."  The 
young  people  gave  a  good  deal  of  trouble,  as 
they  would  marry  out  of  "  Unity  "  and  had 
to  be  disciplined.     Occasionally  the  young 

1  S.  K.  Monthly  Meeting  Records,  vol.  i.  p.  140. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  loi. 


FRIENDS  MEETING  RECORDS  l6l 

man  apologized,  as  in  the  following  entry. 
How  the  bride  took  it  is  not  mentioned. 
To  the  Monthly  Meeting  of  friends  now 
in  being  at  So.  Kingstown.  I  through 
Inattention  to  the  Light  of  Christ  have 
Married  a  wife  out  of  the  good  order  of 
Friends  neither  was  she  a  member  of  their 
Society.  Therefore  now  being  Sincible 
that  their  Rules  and  orders  therein  is 
Confistant  with  truth  and  Seeing  the 
error  of  my  doings  am  sorry  for  my 
Transgresfion  therein  and  Defire  friends 
to  pass  by  my  offence  and  Still  Continue 
their  Care  for  me  Defiring  I  may  be  pre- 
served to  w^alk  according  to  good  order 
for  time  to  come.^ 

The  poor  fathers,  too,  had  hard  times,  as 
when  William  Robinson,  son  of  the  old 
Governor,  in  1768  allowed  his  daughter's 
marriage,  but  on  being  waited  upon  by  a 
committee  of  Friends,  "said  William  told 
them  that  his  Daughter  was  married  out  of 
our  Society  &  that  he  allowed  her  to  be  mar- 
ried in  his  houfe  but  said  he  had  rather  it 
had  been  otherways."  ^  This  confession  was 
not  received  as  "  satisfaction  "  by  the  meet- 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  225. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  203. 


1 62  COLLEGE    TOM 

ing,  and  he  presents  a  paper  condemning 
his  conduct  for  allowing  it,  and  for  having 
"  vain  mufick  and  Dancing."  ^  Good  Peleg 
Peckham  is  indignant  at  one  wedding  which 
he  was  appointed  to  see  "  orderly  carried 
on."  He  reports  that  he  "  expected  to 
have  been  entertained  at  s"^  Martha's  appart- 
ment  but  contrary  to  it  was  at  s^  William's 
who  not  being  a  member  of  our  Society 
I  thought  was  an  Imposition."  ^  Some  of 
the  weddings  to  which  friends  were  sent, 
were  apparently  only  "  in  the  main  orderly 
carried  on,"  and  some  "  Pretty  orderly 
carried  on,  confidering  the  Concourfe  of 
young  people,"  ^  and  one  wonders  if  it  was 
at  such  time  the  young  fellow  fell,  as  he 
confesses :  — 

Whereas  I  took  more  Strong  Drink 
than  was  Commendable  and  also  afsisted 
my  Brother  Amos  in  gitting  married  Con- 
trary to  friends  Rules  without  acquainting 
my  father  therewith  I  therefore  freely 
Condemn  it  and  Defire  friends  to  Con- 
tinue me  Under  their  Care. 
Stoneingtown  y^  i8th  of  loth  mo.  1767.'* 
People  lost   their  tempers   too,  then  as 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  208.        2  /^/^.^  vol.  i.  p.  104. 
8  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  53.  ■*  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  199. 


FRIENDS'  DISCIPLINE  1 63 

now ;  but  the  watchful  care  of  Friends  was 
over  them,  and  one  respects  young  Caleb 
Hazard,  who  declares  that  he  "  has  of  late 
so  far  given  way  to  the  pafsion  of  anger  as 
to  Strike  &  fight  with  Coon  Williams " 
which  transgression  he  "  freely  condemns." 
An  old  man  and  his  sons  are  also  interest- 
ing. He  is  the  father  of  the  young  man  be- 
fore mentioned,  and  states  his  case  plainly. 
A  man,  he  says,  — 

Come  to  me  in  my  field  and  tho  I  De- 
sired him  to  Keep  off  yet  made  an  at- 
tempt to  beat  or  abufe  me  to  prevent 
which  I  Suddenly  and  with  too  much 
warmth  pushed  him  from  me  with  the 
Rake  I  was  leaning  on  Which  act  of 
mine  as  it  did  not  manifest  to  that  Chris- 
tian patience  and  Example  in  Suffering 
Tryals  of  every  Kind  becoming  my  pro- 
fefsion  I  therefore  Freely  Condemn  it  and 
Defire  that  I  may  be  enabled  for  the 
future  to  Suffer  patiently  any  abufe  or 
whatever  elfe  I  may  be  Tried  with  and  alfo 
Defire  friends  to  Continue  their  watchful 
Care  over  me.  For  the  monthly  meeting 
to  be  held  at  Richmond  y"  31st  of  y*  8th 
mo.  1767.^ 

^  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  197. 


1 64  COLLEGE    TOM 

We  get  a  glimpse  of  the  roads,  too,  when 
Mathevv  Allen  is  summoned  to  appear,  but 
sends  excuse  "  he  being  an  ancient  man,  and 
the  Distance  so  far  to  ride,"  and  another 
who  cannot  come,  "  as  the  weather  has  been 
Difficult  and  he  lame."  But  our  chief  con- 
cern is  with  Thomas  Hazard,  and  his  con- 
nection with  the  meeting.  His  first  recorded 
service  was  on  "  y*  29  Day  of  y^  i''  mo  1 753," 
when  a  minute  declares  that  at  the  request 
of  "  ffriends  "  he  had  "  Tranfcribed  a  copy  of 
the  yearly  meeting  minutes  and  prefented  to 
this  meeting."  ^  A  committee  are  appointed 
to  "  compair  them  with  the  original,"  and 
make  report  at  the  next  meeting  that  "  they 
are  a  true  Copy."  This  service  is  recorded 
when  he  was  only  thirty-three  years  old,  and 
in  a  few  years  he  is  appointed  a  Represen- 
tative at  the  various  monthly  and  quarterly 
meetings,  at  first  with  Thomas  Rodman, 
an  aged  friend.  He  goes  to  Westerly  and 
Richmond,  and  as  early  as  1757  is  appointed 
"  to  audit  the  accounts  with  Tho^  Rod- 
man the  meetings  Treafurer."  ^  Two  years 
later  "  This  meeting  adjourns  till  next  fourth 
day  week  to  meet  at  Thomas  Hazard  s  Son 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  IS- 
^  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  TT. 


FIRST  SERVICES  IN  MEETING         165 

of  Robert  at  the  (f"  hour."  At  the  adjourn- 
ment he  was  appointed  on  the  committee 
"  to  Draw  &  Sign  an  Epistle  "  to  the  next 
quarterly  meeting,  and  to  attend  that  meet- 
ing/ Almost  every  month  for  a  number  of 
years  has  some  record  of  him,  as  represen- 
tative, or  on  various  committees  to  deal  with 
"  Disorderly  walkers,"  or  to  advise  in  the 
settling  of  the  "  temporal  affairs  "  of  some 
distressed  friend.  It  is  he  who  is  on  the 
committee  with  Joseph  Congdon  "  to  stojD 
y^  leak"  in  the  old  meeting-house,  and  to 
"  make  such  small  repairs  as  they  shall  find 
needful  at  prefent."^ 

The  question  of  slavery  was  already  be- 
fore the  meeting.  John  Woolman,  whom 
tradition  speaks  of  as  College  Tom's  friend,^ 
visited  Narragansett  first  in  1748.  He  jour- 
neyed through  Connecticut,  and  after  three 
days'  riding,  he  says,  "  we  came  amongst 
Friends  in  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
visited  them  in  and  about  Newport,  Dart- 
mouth, and  generally  in  those  parts."  *  The 
"  Monthly  Meeting  Records  "  unfortunately 
contain  no  mention  of  his  preaching,  but 
Thomas   Hazard  and  his  friend  Jeremiah 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  p.  97.        2  /^/^.^  p.  103. 

8  Updike,  p.  324.  ■*  W oolman's  /o7irna/,  p.  75. 


1 66  COLLEGE    TOM 

Austin,  who  had  freed  his  single  slave,  his 
only  inheritance,  and  worked  himself  at  day 
labor,^  must  have  taken  great  comfort  in 
this  visit  of  the  devoted  preacher,  and  taken 
courage  to  continue  their  work  in  an  un- 
popular cause.  The  general  conditions  of 
slavery  in  Narragansett  have  been  men- 
tioned. A  recent  writer  alludes  to  the 
"  Slave  code  of  Rhode  Island  supplemented 
by  the  by-laws  of  South  Kingstown,"  as  by 
no  means  a  mild  one.^  He  does  not  speak 
of  the  provision  for  manumission  on  deposit 
of  ^ I oo  security  in  1729.  In  1750  a  law  was 
enacted  declaring  that  no  person  shall  "pre- 
sume to  sell,  give,  truck,  barter,  or  exchange 
with  or  to  any  Indian  Mulatto  or  Negro  ser- 
vant or  slave  any  strong  beer,  ale,  cider,  wine, 
rum,  brandy  or  other  strong  liquor  by  what 
name  or  names  so  ever  called  or  know."  A 
fine  of  fifteen  dollars  was  to  be  paid  for  each 
offense.  No  slave  was  allowed  to  be  abroad 
after  nine  o'clock  at  night,  with  a  penalty  at- 
tached for  each  offense  of  being  "  publickly 
whipped  by  the  Constable  ten  stripes."  The 
owner  as  an  alternative  was  allowed  to  pay 
a  fine  of  three  dollars.     Indians,  mulattoes, 

1  Updike,  p.  326. 

*  Dr,  Edward  Channing,  Narragansett  Planters,  p.  ro. 


SLA  VERY  AND  APPRENTICESHIP      167 

and  negroes  were  not  allowed  to  be  enter- 
tained without  consent  of  master  or  mis- 
tress, with  "dancing,  gaming,  or  diversion 
of  any  kind."  In  South  Kingstown  a  by- 
law forbade  the  "  keeping  of  creaters  "  by 
negroes.^  On  the  other  hand  a  slave  could 
not  be  sent  out  of  the  country  without  his 
own  consent,  and  a  certificate  from  two  jus- 
tices of  the  peace  was  required  to  this  con- 
sent to  make  transportation  legal.  If  the 
slave  was  "  notoriously  unfaithful,"  proofs 
could  be  given  at  a  court  of  General  Ses- 
sions, and  the  owner  could  be  authorized  to 
send  him  to  any  other  part.^  When  we  con- 
sider the  terms  of  an  apprenticeship  at  about 
the  same  time  these  restrictions  do  not  ap- 
pear quite  so  severe.  In  a  regularly  printed 
form  filled  out  for  one  of  young  Richard 
Hazard's  sons,  it  appears  that  the  appren- 
tice binds  himself  to  serve  faithfully  his 
master  and  mistress,  "  their  secrets  keep 
their  commands  obey  At  Cards  Dice  or  any 
other  unlawful  Game  he  shall  not  play ; " 
he  shall  not  absent  himself  "  by  Day  or  by 
Night  "  from  his  master's  and  mistress'  ser- 

1  South  Kingstown  Records.     Quoted  by  Dr.  E.  Chan- 
ning. 
'^  Public  Laws  of  R.  /.,  Revision  of  179S,  Act  of  1776. 


I68  COLLEGE    TOM 

vice  without  their  leave ;  or  "  haunt  Ale- 
houses Taverns  or  Play  houses."  This  cut 
off  the  apprentice  from  all  diversions  as 
effectually  as  the  slave.  For  his  service  he 
was  to  be  taught  his  trade,  and  to  "  read, 
write  and  Cypher  as  far  as  the  Rule  of 
Three  "  and  his  wearing  apparel  was  to  be 
furnished  for  the  sum  of  ^400  old  tenor, 
paid  by  his  guardian.^  The  times  were 
strict,  and  the  slave  laws  must  be  read  not 
with  our  modern  views  of  liberty,  but  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  spirit  of  the  days  before 
the  Revolution. 

The  various  meetings  were  again  stirred 
by  John  Woolman  in  1760.  He  and  his 
companions  held  five  meetings  in  Narragan- 
sett,  where  he  says  he  went  "  through  deep 
exercises  that  were  mortifying  to  the  crea- 
turely  will.  In  several  families  in  the  coun- 
try where  we  lodged,  I  felt  an  engagement 
on  my  mind  to  have  a  conference  with  them 
in  private  concerning  their  slaves."  ^  He 
speaks  of  this  as  an  "  unpleasant  task  as- 
signed him."  In  Newport  he  found  that  a 
large  number  of  slaves  had  been  imported 
from  Africa  and  were  then  on  sale  by  a 

*  Appendix,  Paper  of  Apprenticeship. 

*  Woolman's  y<?«r«fl/,  p.  161. 


JOHN  WOOLMAN  1 69 

member  of  the  Society,  upon  hearing  which 
his  appetite  failed  and  he  was  sorely  dis- 
tressed. After  many  inward  difficulties,  he 
presented  a  petition  to  the  Legislature  for 
the  meeting  to  approve  and  present,  which 
would  forbid  the  future  importing  of  slaves. 
This  was  approved  by  the  meeting,  and  a 
minute  was  also  made  and  sent  to  several 
quarterly  meetings  to  discourage  participa- 
tion in  lotteries  among  Friends.  After  the 
Yearly  Meeting  was  over  he  had  private 
conferences  with  members  of  the  society 
who  held  slaves.^ 

As  early  as  1757  the  South  Kingstown 
monthly  meeting  puts  itself  on  record  on 
this  question,  when  — 

This  meeting  Received  a  paper  of  Rich- 
ard Smith  as  his  Teflimony  against 
Keeping  Slaves  and  his  Intention  to  free 
his  negro  girl  which  paper  he  hath  a 
mind  to  lay  before  the  Quarterly  meeting 
all  which  is  Referred  for  further  consid- 
eration." 

One  of  the  Rodmans,  a  few  years  later, 
was  in  trouble  over  a  slave.  He  was  con- 
demned by  his  own  meeting,  but  appealed 

1  Woolman's  y(?«r««/,  p.  167. 
»  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  i.,  p.  82. 


I70  COLLEGE   TOM 

to  the  quarterly  meeting,  which  confirmed 
the  judgment  of  the  monthly  meeting  given 
against  him,  "on  account  of  his  buying  a 
negro  slave "  and  "  it  is  the  mind  of  friends 
that  there  ought  to  go  out  a  publick  Tefli- 
mony  &  Denial "  ^  of  the  purchaser,  which 
was  accordingly  done,  and  a  solemn  "  paper 
of  frd'  Teflimony  of  Disowning  "  was  read 
at  the  end  of  a  First-day  meeting.  Stephen 
Hoxfie,  the  excellent  clerk  of  the  meeting, 
through  whose  care  the  records  are  so 
legible  now,  was  appointed  to  draw  it  up. 

But  the  famous  slave  case  was  that  of  the 
Rathbuns,  father  and  son,  which  is  fully 
detailed,  and  must  have  brought  opinion  to 
a  focus  upon  the  whole  question.  This  case 
was  before  the  meeting  eight  years,  dur- 
ing the  latter  part  of  which  it  was  reported 
upon  at  every  monthly  meeting.  At  first 
Thomas  Hazard  was  not  formally  con- 
nected with  it,  but  as  it  became  more  com- 
plicated he  was  added  to  the  committee^ 
to  deal  with  the  offenders,  and  report  from 
month  to  month.  Having  bought  a  slave, 
Joshua  Rathbun  is  brought  to  confess  his 
error  as  follows :  — 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  131- 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  252. 


THE  RATH  BUN  CASE  171 

Weflerly  the  27"'  of  y^  12  mo  1765 
To  the  monthly  meeting  of  friends  to  be 
held  at  Richmond  next 

Dear  Friends.  I  hereby  acknowledge 
that  I  have  acted  Disorderly  in  purchas- 
ing a  Negro  Slave  which  Disorder  I  was 
Ignorant  of,  at  the  time  of  the  purchase, 
but  having  conversed  with  Several  friends 
upon  the  Subject  of  Slavery  have  gained 
a  knowledge  that  heretofore  I  was  Igno- 
rant of,  both  as  to  the  Rules  of  our  Society, 
as  well  as  the  nature  &  inconfistancy  of 
making  Slaves  of  our  fellow  Creatures, 
am  therefore  free  to  condemn  that  Incon- 
siderate act  and  Defire  Friends  to  pafs 
it  by,  hoping  that  I  may  be  preferved 
from  all  conduct  that  may  bring  Un- 
easinefs  Upon  friends  for  the  future  am 
willing  likewise  to  take  the  advice  of 
Friends  both  as  to  the  bringing  up  and 
Discharging  of  the  Afores'^  negro. 

Joshua  Rathbun.^ 

This  expresses  very  clearly  what  must 
have  been  the  general  feeling  of  the  day 
in  regard  to  slavery,  and  sounds  like  an 
honest  change  of  heart.  Nevertheless  on 
the  28th  of  ist  month,  1771, — 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  171. 


1/2  COLLEGE   TOM 


Joshua  Rathbun  appeared  in  this  meet- 


ing 


and  informed  that  he  had  sig-ned  over 


&' 


a  bill  of  Sale  to  his  son  of  that  negro 
garl  he  purchased  (and  give  incourage- 
ment  to  take  friends  advice  in  order  to 
Discharge  his  duty  towards  her)  now 
friends  think  it  necefsary  that  something 
be  done  in  that  affair. 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  deal  with 

him  and  a  further  note  comes,  — 

Whereas  our  last  monthly  meeting 
condefended  to  appoint  a  meeting  to  be 
held  at  the  said  Joshua  Rathbun's  houfe 
for  the  space  of  three  months  but  since 
it  has  appeared  to  this  meeting  that  said 
Rathbun  did  not  stand  Clear  in  his 
Teflimony  for  the  caufe  of  Truth  as  he 
ought  to  have  done  against  that  of  Slav- 
ery, therefore  that  meeting  appointed  at 
his  houfe  is  Discontinued.^ 
The  son  was  then  dealt  with,  and  this 

entry  follows,  — 

30th  of  i2mo.  1 77 1. 
Friends  appointed  last  monthly  meet- 
ing to  Treat  with  Joshua  Rathbun  y^  3rd 
and  his  father  Joshua   Rathbun  y^    2nd 
Concerning  their  Dispofmg  of  a  Negro 

1  .S-.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  238. 


THE  RATH  BUN  CASE  173 

Garl  as  a  Slave  report  as  followeth  that 
they  have  treated  with  them  on  that  acco' 
and  find  by  inquiring  that  Joshua  y^  2nd 
who  had  a  bill  of  sale  of  said  Negro  girl 
afsigned  s'^  bill  of  Sale  over  to  his  Son 
Joshua  Rathbun  y^  3rd  for  a  Considera- 
tion of  fifty  Dollars  which  Dollars  the 
said  Joshua  y^  3rd  told  us  his  Father 
made  up  to  him  another  way  and  that  as 
the  s'^  negro  girl  Cost  him  nothing  he 
promised  his  father  Joshua  Rathbun  y^ 
2nd  that  the  Girl  should  have  her  free- 
dom at  a  Suitable  time  if  she  Lived  not- 
withstanding he  (that  is  Joshua  Rathbun 
the  3rd)  had  Sold  her  and  she  was  sent 
out  of  the  Country  without  (as  he  told 
us)  his  father's  consent  nor  do  we  find 
that  Joshua  Rathbun  y^  2nd  did  afk  the 
advice  of  Fr"^  refpecting  said  negro  girl 
at  the  time  he  conveyed  her  to  his  son 
or  ever  made  any  Complaint  of  his  Son's 
Conduct  in  that  cafe  to  friends  until  they 
was  other  ways  informed  thereof.  The 
consideration  of  which  is  refer"*  to  our 
next  mo'y  meeting.^ 
After  long  waiting  the  son  is  denied  ^  be- 

1  S.  K.  Af.  M.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  249. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  260. 


174  COLLEGE    TOM 

cause  he  "  encouraged  the  Deteflable  prac- 
tice of  enflaving  mankind,"  and  the  father 
advised  in  1772  to  — 

.  .  .  prefs  it  on  his  Said  Son  to  Redeem 
Said  Slave  and  if  his  Said  Son  Should 
refuse  or  neglect  so  to  do  that  he  Com- 
mince  and  profecute  an  action  at  Com- 
mon Law  against  his  son  for  the  Recovery 
of  Damages  Upon  a  promis  made  by  his 
said  son.  Frds  to  assist  him,  &  the  sum 
recovered  to  be  used  for  the  redemption 
of  the  girl.^ 

"  Thos  Wilbur,  Joseph  Congdon,  Nicholas 
Bragg,  and  Thos  Hazard  of  Robert "  were 
the  committee,  and  one  wonders  if  a  trace 
of  College  Tom's  early  law  training  appears 
in  the  advice  to  "  Commince  and  profecute." 
The  father  did   not  take  it,   however,  and 
was  still   further  dealt  with   by  the   meet- 
ing.   One  has  some  sympathy  with  the  poor 
man,  who  was  denied  the  comfort  of   the 
meeting  in  his  own  house,  but  Friends  were 
inexorable,  and  the  record  shows  how  well 
they  cleared  their  consciences  :  — 
I  St  of  3rd  mo.  1773. 
We  the  Subscribers  according  to  the 
appointment  of  Last  Mon'^  meeting  have 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  p.  261. 


ACTION  OF  THE  MEETING  175 

Inspected  the  holding  a  meeting  at  Ston- 
ington  Harbour  as  a  meeting  of  ffriends 
and  find  that  Such  meeting  hath  been 
held  on  first  days  at  Joshua  Rathbun  y^ 
2nd  and  that  he  hath  frequently  appeared 
as  a  preacher  therein.  We  Treated  with 
such  as  are  members  and  with  Joshua 
in  perticular  and  defired  him  and  them 
to  defist  therefrom  S'^  Joshua  says  he 
Should  be  glad  to  take  friends'  advice  but 
hath  peace  in  holding  said  meetings  ap- 
prehending it  as  he  said  as  his  duty. 

Solomon  Hoxsie. 

John  Collins. 

Joseph  Congdon. 

Amos   Collins  is  appointed  to   inform 
those   friends   that   live  thereaways    that 
said  meeting  is  held  out  of  the  Unity  of 
Fr'^^  and  that  unlefs  they  defist  from  at- 
tending  it   they  who   have  will   be   pro- 
ceeded against  as  disorderly  walkers.^ 
Three  months  after  the  old  man  was  de- 
nied his  membership,'  and  so  the  episode 
of  the  "  Negro  garl "  ends  as  far  as  the  rec- 
ords show.     Indeed,  it  is  to  be  feared  that 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.y  vol.  i.  p.  276. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  7- 


176  COLLEGE   TOM 

the  good  showing  of  Friends  in  1773  as  to 
their  "  clearness  "  on  the  Slavery  question 
was  made  in  much  the  same  way,  not  by 
convincing  so  many  slave-owners,  as  by 
turning  out  those  who  were  unconvinced. 
John  Knowles  and  Stephen  Richmond  in 
1 77 1  "Appears  of  a  disposition  to  comply 
with  friends  rules  in  liberating  their  slaves." 
Three  friends  "discovers  something  of  a 
Difpofition  to  comply,"  while  four  "  Did 
Shew  the  Contrary  Difpofition."  They 
were  informed  on  the  29th  of  7th  mo.  1771, 
that  all  who  did  not  free  their  slaves  may 
"  expect  to  be  Denied  Memberfhip."  ^  Two 
months  afterward  a  sturdy  Friend  appeared 
in  meeting  and  "saith  that  he  shall  not 
comply  with  the  Rules  of  the  Society,  Re- 
fpecting  his  Slaves  to  Liberate  them,"  and 
he  and  three  others  are  therefore  denied 
membership.     On  the 

28*^^  of  6"^  mo  1773 
pj-ds  Appointed  to  Visit  Slave  Keepers 
made  report  that  they  don't  find  their  is 
any  held  as  Slaves  by  Fr'^'  and  there  are 
some  y*  are  set  at  Liberty  and  no  proper 
mannamifsion  given  therefore  said  com- 
mittee are  continued  to  see  that  they  are 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  243. 


MANUMISSION  PAPERS  177 

mannamitted  and   make  report  thereof  as 
soon  as  they  conveniently  can/ 
So  the  main  work  of  the  committee  ap- 
pointed in  April,  1771,  was  finished.     The 
men  who  did   this  service,  a  service  which 
must  have  tried  them  sorely  at  times,  and 
divided  families    and    neighborhoods,  were 
Thomas  Wilbur,  Benjamin  Hoxsie,  Joseph 
Collins,  John  Robinson,  and  Stephen  Hox- 
sie.^    Their  work  was  continued   until   all 
the  slaves  had  proper  papers. 
One  such  paper  is  recorded,  — 

26th  of  the  2nd  mo.  1774.  These  may 
certify  that  about  25  years  ago  I  had  sev- 
eral negroes  which  upon  an  agreement 
between  them  and  me  set  at  Liberty 
which  Liberty  I  have  seen  to  be  my  duty 
to  confirm  from  me  my  Heirs  and  afsigns 
the  Negroes  are  York,  Betty,  Zilpah  and 
Zadock  York  is  since  Dead  but  the  other 
Three  I  still  confirm  their  liberty  accord- 
ing to  the  good  order  of  Friends  from 
me 

Hezekiah  Collins.^ 
Witnefs  Thomas  Wilbur. 


1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  ii.  p.  i. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  238. 
8  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  18. 


178  COLLEGE    TOM 

In  these  local  concerns  Thomas  Hazard 
seems  to  have  taken  a  less  prominent  part 
than  in  earlier  years,  but  he  is  constantly 
sent  to  quarterly  meeting,  and  added  to 
committees,  as  in  the  Rathbun  case  when  it 
became  complicated.  He  was  also  on  vari- 
ous committees  to  transact  the  business  of 
the  whole  society.  In  this  very  year,  1773, 
the  London  yearly  meeting  is  informed 
that  Friends'  "  labor  for  the  freedom  of  the 
Enslaved  Negroes  is  still  continued,"  and 
"that  we  have  appointed  our  friends  T. 
Hazard  Isaac  Lawton  Philip  Wanton  and 
Jacob  Mott  Jr  of  Rhode  Island  a  committee 
to  correspond  with  our  correspondents  in 
London."  1 

This  year  of  1773  was  a  year  of  special 
activity  among  Friends.  Joseph  Wanton, 
of  the  old  Quaker  family,  was  the  governor 
of  Rhode  Island.  He  was  the  son  of  Gov- 
ernor William  Wanton,  who  left  the  Society 
of  Friends  on  his  marriage.  The  lady's  family 
were  strict  Congregationalists,  and  as  his 
family  were  Quakers,  religious  objections 
were  made  to  the  marriage,  upon  which  he 
finally  said,  "  Friend  Ruth,  let  us  break 
from  this  unreasonable  bondage;  /will  give 

1  R.  I.  Yearly  Meeting  Records^  1773. 


GRISWOLD   ON  MANUMISSION         179 

up  my  religion,  and  thou  shalt  thine,  and 
we  will  go  over  to  the  Church  of  England 
and  go  to  the  Devil  together! "  ^  It  was 
the  son  of  this  ardent  lover  who  came  to 
the  head  of  colonial  affairs,  a  few  years 
before  the  Revolution,  and  who  would 
naturally  have  some  sympathy  with  the 
Society  his  father  left.  Among  the  papers 
of  Thomas  Hazard  is  a  letter  from  Judge 
Mathew  Griswold,  of  Connecticut,  to  this 
governor  of  Rhode  Island,  dated  June  10, 
1773.  It  is  evidently  in  reply  to  one  from 
Rhode  Island  on  the  subject  of  slaves. 
They  are  "  Esteem^  with  us,"  Judge  Gris- 
wold says,  "  as  the  Proper  Objects  of  the 
Care  and  Protection  of  the  Government 
in  common  with  Other  Inhabitants.  If 
any  outrage  undue  Violence  or  Inhumane 
Severity  is  used  it  is  Esteem'^  the  Duty 
of  the  Informing  &  Peace  officers  of  the 
Colony  to  interpose  and  give  Relief  upon 
proper  Application  made  to  them."  But 
Judge  Griswold  is  not  clear  as  to  manu- 
mission. "  Those  Things  are  not  greatly 
Favour*^  in  Law :  by  People  of  Consider- 
ation here,"  he  says,  "  Inasmuch  as  the 
Negroes   who    have   been    Manumitted   in 

1  Updike,  p.  296. 


l8o  COLLEGE    TOM 

this  Colony  :  being  Ignorant  of  the  Art 
of  Honest  living  have  Frequently  be- 
come Strowling  vagrants  have  United 
with  Thieves  &  Burglars  and  proved  very 
Troublesome  and  Dangerous  Inhabitants. 
I  sho*^  be  Concerned  that  any  People  sho*^ 
be  oppressed  by  unlawful  holding  in  Servi- 
tude. Justice  ought  to  be  done  to  Every 
one."  ^  The  presence  of  this  letter  among 
the  papers  seems  to  indicate  that  Thomas 
Hazard's  interest  in  the  question  was  not 
only  well  known,  but  that  he  was  on  terms  of 
friendship  with  Governor  Wanton.  This  was 
the  year  (1773)  that  Stephen  Hopkins  was 
disowned  by  the  Society  because  he  would 
not  liberate  a  slave  woman,  and  the  year 
that  Moses  Brown  liberated  all  his  slaves, 
preparatory  to  joining  the  Society  in  1774.^ 
This  excellent  man,  who  did  so  much  for 
the  Society  and  for  the  infant  manufactures 
of  the  State,  was  apparently  a  quarter  of  a 
century  behind  Thomas  Hazard  in  his  con- 
victions on  the  subject  of  slavery. 

In  1 774  Thomas  Hazard  was  appointed  on 
the  committee  to  "  use  their  influence  at  the 
General  Afsembly  of  Rhode  Island  or  with 

^  Appendix,  Letter  from  Judge  Griswold. 

2  Moses  Brown,  A  Sketch,  by  Augustine  Jones,  p.  15. 


LEGISLA  TION  ON  SLA  VER  Y  1 8 1 

the  members  thereof  that  such  laws  may  be 
made  as  will  tend  to  the  abolition  of  slavery, 
and  to  get  such  laws  repealed  as  any  way 
encourage  it."  ^  This  committee  presented 
an  act  which  was  passed  by  the  General 
Assembly.  The  fact  that  the  men  who 
petitioned  the  Assembly  for  this  purpose 
were  themselves  all  "  clear  in  their  tefti- 
mony "  as  to  slavery  must  have  carried 
great  weight.  The  noble  opening  sen- 
tence read:  —  "Whereas  the  inhabitants 
of  America  are  generally  engaged  in  the 
preservation  of  their  own  rights  and  lib- 
erties, among  which  that  of  personal  free- 
dom must  be  considered  as  the  greatest ; 
as  those  who  are  desirous  of  enjoying  all 
the  advantages  of  liberty  themselves  should 
be  willing  to  extend  personal  liberty  to  oth- 
ers,"^ it  is  therefore  enacted  that  no  negro 
or  mulatto  slave  shall  be  brought  into  the 
Colony. 

The  whole  of  New  England  was  soon 
plunged  into  trouble  with  the  disasters  of 
war,  and  little  further  action  was  taken 
until  peace  was  restored. 

The  negro  called    in  the   account   book 

^  R.  I.  Yearly  Meeting  Records,  1774. 
2  R.  I.  C.  R.,  vol.  vii.  p.  251. 


1 82  COLLEGE    TOM 

Priamus  will  be  remembered.  Among  the 
papers  is  a  long  letter  from  John  Pember- 
ton  of  Philadelphia,  so  characteristic  that  it 
is  given  in  full.  This  excellent  Friend, 
"  our  dear  John  Pemberton,"  as  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth Drinker  in  her  diary  calls  him,  was 
the  clerk  of  the  meeting  for  sufferings  in 
1777,  in  Philadelphia,  and  was  arrested  and 
imprisoned  for  refusal  to  bear  arms.^  He 
traveled  in  Ireland  a  few  years  later,  and 
finally  died  in  Germany  in  1 795.^  He  had 
evidently  been  in  Narragansett,  as  his 
charming  message  of  "my  Dear  Love  in 
thy  freedom  to  such  who  may  enquire,"  and 
his  mention  of  "  my  friends  in  your  parts  " 
indicates. 

Philad%  5  mo  15,  1780. 
Dear  Friend  Tho'  Hazard 

There  is  a  negro  man  here,  whofe  Case 
claims  Commiferation,  and  having  lived 
with  thee  15  or  16  years,  as  he  tells  me  I 
hope  thou  will  use  fome  endeavors  that 
Justice  be  done  him  &  he  fet  free.  His 
Name  is  Primus,  after  leaving  thy  Service 
he  lived  about  7  years  with  W""  Barden 

^  Hodgson,    Historical    Memoirs    of  the    Society    of 
Friends^  p.  342. 

2  Mrs.  E.  Drinker's  Journal,  p.  264. 


JOHN  P EMBERTON'S  LETTER         183 

who  he  allows  was  his  master,  &  who 
agreed  with  him,  that  if  he  would  go  three 
Voiages  in  a  Privateer  he  fhould  be  manu- 
mitted, he  went  two  &  returned  fafe,  the 
third  Voiage  he  was  taken  &  Came  hither 
with  the  British,  fo  that  he  performed 
what  had  been  required  of  him.  The 
Privateer  he  went  in  was  a  floop  called 
the  America,  One  Dennis  Com'^  and  Wil- 
liam Cranstead  Lieutenant.  These  two 
were  Present  when  his  master  entered 
into  this  Contract  with  him.  If  these 
men  can  be  found  and  will  Certify  what 
he  afserts  to  be  true  I  fhould  hope  proper 
steps  may  be  taken  to  Clear  the  poor 
man.  if  the  said  W*"  Barden  cannot  be 
prevailed  with,  without  such  procedure 
He  remained  here  after  the  British  left 
this  place,  &  has  been  taken  up  by  one 
Joseph  Knary  or  Connary,  who  says  he 
purchased  him  of  one  Rice  of  Hartford 
in  Connecticutt.  The  few  months  he 
lived  in  this  City  before  taken  up  he 
behaved  well,  as  far  as  I  have  heard. 
Knowing  that  these  poor  People  are 
often  greatly  imposed  upon  I  undertake 
to  represent  his  Case  &  hope  thou  will 
be  diligent  &  speedy  in  doing  what  thou 


1 84  COLLEGE    TOM 

can  for  his  relief.  I  should  be  plesed  to 
hear  of  thy  Succefs  in  this  application, 
for  it  would  be  Distresfing  to  him  and 
Cause  perhaps  deep  &  Sorrowful  Reflec- 
tion to  his  Old  Master,  if  he  should  be 
sent  into  Cruel  hard  bondage  which  may 
probably  be  the  Case  if  not  foon  relieved. 
He  has  been  fold  thrice  this  Winter  and 
suffered  much  from  want  of  Cloathing, 
the  persons  who  had  him  being  doubtful 
of  their  right  to  detain  him.  But  it  is 
much  a  Custom  for  hardened  Worthlefs 
men  to  purchase  these  poor  people  and 
take  them  to  the  fouthward  &  sell  them 
where  there  's  none  to  plead  their  Cause, 
and  where  they  suffer  much.  He  walked 
to  this  City  in  the  beginning  of  3^  mo 
last,  near  50  miles  bare  foot. 

I  often  remember  my  friends  in  your 
parts  with  much  Sympathy  and  love,  & 
desire  they  may  be  kept  &  preserved  in 
Faith  and  patience  and  In  Integrity  & 
Uprightness  of  heart.  My  Dear  Love  in 
thy  freedom  to  such  who  may  enquire 
&  with  same  salutation  to  thee  &  thine 
remain  thy  Affectionate  Friend. 

John  Pemberton. 


THE  ABOLITION  ACT  1 85 

if  a  Certificate  could  be  produced  from 
Dennis  &  Cranstead  of  the  ab°  ment^ 
agreement,  I  expect  wee  may  be  able  to 
secure  the  man  from  his  oppresfion. 

No  further  record  of  this  man  has  been 
found,  but  the  letter  exists  to  show  the  spirit 
with  which  John  Pemberton  and  his  friends 
worked  for  the  oppressed  slaves. 

In  December,  1783,  a  Committee  of  the 
Legislature  was  appointed  "to  take  into 
consideration  a  petition  preferred  unto  this 
Assembly  by  a  committee  of  the  people 
called  Quakers  respecting  the  Abolition  of 
Slavery,"^  and  directed  to  report.  This 
was  the  petition  of  the  old  committee  which 
had  held  over  through  the  war,  of  which 
Thomas  Hazard  was  a  member.^  In  Feb- 
ruary, 1784,  two  months  later,  the  act  he  had 
labored  so  earnestly  for  was  finally  passed. 
The  preamble  recalls  Thomas  Jefferson's 
famous  Declaration,  so  lately  written.  It 
reads,  —  "Whereas  all  men  are  entitled  to 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness, 
and  the  holding  of  mankind  in  a  state  of 
slavery,  as  private  property,  which  has  gradu- 

1  R.  I.  C.  R.,  vol.  ix.  p.  735. 

'  R.  I.  Friends  Yearly  Meeting  Records,  1 784. 


1 86  COLLEGE   TOM 

ally  obtained  by  unrestrained  custom  and  the 
permissions  of  the  laws,  is  repugnant  to  this 
principle,  and  subversive  of  the  happiness 
of  mankind,  the  great  end  of  all  civil  gov- 
ernment,"—  therefore  it  was  enacted  that 
no  person  born  after  the  date  of  the  act, 
"  negroes,  mulattoes  or  others "  were  to  be 
considered  slaves.  The  children  were  to  be 
instructed  and  might  be  apprenticed  by  the 
towns  in  which  they  were  born  ;  they  had 
the  right  to  be  supported  in  case  of  inca- 
pacity, the  towns  and  not  the  owners 
assuming  the  support  and  education  of  all 
children  of  slaves.^  Good  as  this  was,  three 
years  later  an  additional  act  was  required. 
"  Forgetful  of  the  danger  which  then  im- 
pended, and  inattentive  of  the  principles  of 
justice  ...  a  renewal  of  the  African  trade 
for  slaves  has  been  entered  into  by  divers 
inhabitants  of  this  state," '^  the  act  reads. 
A  penalty  of  a  hundred  pounds  for  every 
slave  imported  was  fixed,  or  a  thousand 
pounds  for  every  vessel  engaged  in  the 
trade. ^ 

1  R.  I.  c.  R.,  vol.  X.,  p.  7. 

^  Ibid,  vol.  X.,  p.  262. 

8  There  is  some  reason  for  supposing  this  act  to  have 
been  drawn  by  Thomas  Hazard,  but  I  have  not  been  able 
to  satisfy  myself  of  the  fact. 


ABOLITION  SOCIETY  187 

A  little  later,  following  the  passage  of  the 
Abolition  act,  the  Providence  Society  for 
Abolishing  the  Slave  Trade  was  founded. 
A  copy  of  what  is  apparently  the  original 
constitution  of  the  society  is  printed  on  a  folio 
sheet,  and  preserved  among  the  papers,  but 
has  no  date  whatever.  In  drawing  up  this 
constitution  Thomas  Hazard  had  a  hand. 
The  proceedings  of  the  society  set  forth 
that  on  the  29th  of  the  ist  month  called 
January,  1 789,  "  a  meeting  of  citizens  of 
the  town  of  Providence  and  parts  adja- 
cent was  called  for  the  purpose  of  estab- 
lishing a  Society  for  Abolishing  Slavery." 
David  Howell  was  chosen  moderator,  and 
a  committee  of  seven,  including  Judge 
Howell,  Moses  Brown,  Arthur  Fenner, 
Thomas  Hazard,  Thomas  Arnold  and  two 
others  was  appointed  to  "  draw  up  a  system 
of  regulations  and  government  and  report 
at  a  meeting  to  be  held  on  the  20*''  prox- 
imo at  the  Friends'  Meeting  House  in  this 
town."  At  this  meeting  the  constitution 
drawn  up  by  the  committee  was  adopted, 
a  copy  of  which  is  the  paper  referred  to.^ 
David  Howell  was  chosen  President,  John 
Dorrance,  Vice  -  President ;  Moses    Brown, 

^  Appendix. 


1 88  COLLEGE    TOM 

Treasurer;  Thomas  Arnold,  Secretary; 
and  Thomas  Hazard  was  put  upon  the 
standing  committee  of  seven.  The  society- 
includes  the  names  of  most  of  the  distin- 
guished men  in  the  State ;  Daniel  Lyman, 
James  Burrill,  Richard  Ward  Greene,  and 
other  distinguished  lawyers  were  the  coun- 
selors of  the  society.  Among  the  corre- 
sponding members  were  Jonathan  Edwards, 
the  Elliots  of  Boston,  Judge  Sullivan  of 
Massachusetts,  and  William  Rotch  of  New 
Bedford.  Samuel  Hopkins  was  a  member; 
Anthony,  Foster,  Bartlett,  Buffum,  Almy, 
and  other  excellent  men  were  active  in  it. 
Thomas  Robinson  of  Newport,  brother-in- 
law  of  College  Tom,  was  an  active  member, 
untiring  in  his  efforts  to  release  slaves, 
and  to  prevent  the  importation  of  any  into 
Newport. 

Thus  in  his  old  age  the  great  object  of 
College  Tom's  life  was  attained.  Freeing 
first  his  own  slaves,  he  lived  to  influence 
his  own  Monthly  Meeting  very  strongly, 
and  from  that  meeting  was  sent  to  the 
larger  Yearly  Meeting,  where  his  sincerity 
and  ability  won  recognition,  and  with  the 
foremost  men  of  his  day  he  labored  for 
justice  and    liberty,  against  the  "  deteftable 


SLAVERY  ABOLISHED  1 89 

practice  of  enflaving  mankind."  Through 
a  long  life  he  kept  this  end  in  view,  and 
whatever  may  have  been  his  private  griefs 
and  losses  in  the  troubled  times,  the  attain- 
ment of  this  great  object  gave  comfort  to 
his  last  days. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Business  of  the  Meeting.  Books  subscribed  for.  The 
Position  of  Women.  Temperance,  Letter  from  William 
Redwood.  Act  of  Assembly.  Education.  The  Revo- 
lution. The  Test  Act.  Committee  of  Friends  to  reUeve 
Suffering.  Old  Meeting-House  occupied  as  a  Hospital. 
Testimony  against  War.  Regulars  in  Point  Judith.  Col- 
lege Tom's  Sons.     His  Last  Days.     His  Death. 

The  advanced  position  which  the  South 
Kingstown  Monthly  Meeting  took  in  regard 
to  slavery  would  lead  us  to  expect  other 
good  works  from  it.  Nor  are  we  disap- 
pointed in  a  search  for  them.  "  We  catch 
virtue  from  ourselves  as  well  as  from  others," 
—  and  with  a  few  leaders  such  as  Thomas 
Hazard,  Joseph  Congdon,  and  Stephen 
Hoxsie,  the  meeting  was  sure  to  advance. 
A  good  share  of  the  business  of  the  meeting 
was  transacted  by  College  Tom,  when  he 
was  still  a  young  man.  He  is  "  defired  to 
send  up  to  the  Yearly  Meeting  Treafurer " 
the  subscription  to  the  yearly  meeting  stock 
in  1761.^  He  was  on  the  committee  with 
Stephen   Hoxsie  and  Thomas   Wilbour  to 

1  S.K.M.M.  7?.,  vol.  i.  p.  118. 


THE  MEETING-HOUSE  1 91 

draft  a  paper  stating  the  duties  of  the  over- 
seers of  the  First-day  and  week-day  meet- 
ings in  the  same  year.^     A  little  later  the 
overseers  are  charged  to  suppress  all  "  Slep- 
ing  and  other  indecencies  "  in  meeting.    He 
has  constantly  to  prepare  the  report  for  the 
Quarterly  Meeting,  and  is  sent  to  that  meet- 
ing often.     In  1763,  with  Peleg  Peckham, 
Benjamin   Rodman,  Joseph   Congdon,  and 
Thomas  Wilbour,  he  is  instructed  "  to  take 
a  deed  of  the  old  meeting  houfe  and  lot  at 
South    Kingstown  "2   and   has    a   constant 
oversight  of  the  building  from  that  time. 
The  account  book  has  the  full  memoran- 
dum of  repairs  which  he  and  Joseph  Cong- 
don were  ordered  to  make  in  1761  :  -- 

4*^  8'^'  mo    To  Sixteen  Pounds  in  Cash 
to  Buy  Boards 

Joseph  Knowles  took  it  as  he  went  to 
Newport  £i(^.oos.ood. 

Joseph  Knowles  returned 
s^  ;^i6  Pounds  again  to 
me  ;^i6.  00.  00 

To  2500  Shingles  @  ^30 
as  by  Sam^  Greens  Rec' 
dated  12*^  octob^  1761.     75.  00.   00 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  122. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  142. 


192  COLLEGE    TOM 

To  199  feet  of  pine  Board 

@  IS.  6d.  14.  17.  06 

To  Freight  of  s^  Boards  & 

Shingles  120/  6.  00.  00 

To  Carting  s''  Boards  & 

Shingles  @  ;^io  10.  00.  00 

and  the  account  is  presented  to  the  meeting, 
"  which  is  allowed."  ^  At  the  same  time  he 
was  appointed  with  Joseph  Congdon  "to  Re- 
ceive the  book  at  Newport  prepared  for  to 
Tranfcribe  the  Englilli  book  of  Difcipline 
in  and  procure  the  same  done."  Two  years 
later  the  committee  reports  that  they  have 
"  Compleated  &  presented  it  the  Cost 
thereof  being  fifty  Pounds  old  Ten'."  ^  This 
book  is  among  the  books  of  the  Meeting,  a 
fine  large  quarto,  beautifully  written,  entitled 
Christian  &  Brotherly  Advices  Given  forth 
from  time  to  time  By  the  Yearly  Meeting  in 
L ondon.  A  Iphabetically  Digested  under  Pro- 
per Heads.     Transcribed  by  fas:  Congdon. 

The  meeting  also  subscribed  for  books. 
In  1763  a  "proposal  for  Printing  George 
Fox's  Journal  in  one  vollom  by  subscription 
was  received  "  and  Stephen  Hoxsie  appointed 
to  take  subscriptions.  "  Barclay's  Appoligy 
now  printing  at  Philadelphia  "  is  also  to  be 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  135.         2  /^/^^  vol,  j,  p,  125, 


BOOKS  SUBSCRIBED  FOR  1 93 

subscribed  for  in  1774,  and  Thomas  Hazard 
and  John  Collins  are  to  take  subscriptions 
"for  William  Sewel's  History  propofed  to 
be  printed  at  Philadelphia."  A  minute 
from  the  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting  gives 
further  light  upon  this. 

From  the  Extracts  9  mo.  1774. 
It  having  been  under  the  consideration 
of  the  meeting  for  sufferings  to  reprint 
the  apology  by  our  ancient  friend  Robert 
Barclay  for  which  they  have  encourage- 
ment from  Friends  in  New  England — 
this  meeting  willing  to  promote  it,  re- 
commends to  the  several  quarterly  and 
monthly  meetings  to  promote  subscrip- 
tions for  the  purpose  as  speedy  as  they 
can. 

N.  B.     The  price  of  the  books  to  sub- 
scribers is  not  to  exceed  5^.  ^d. 
The  account  book  has  two  entries  in  refer- 
ence to  it  — 

1774  10  mo  20  day 
6  shillings  sent  to  Philadelphia  when 
subscriptions  were  sent  there  — 
and  another  a  little  later.  The  Sewel  His- 
tories also  are  mentioned,  with  their  exact 
cost.  But  well  as  the  meeting  looked  after 
its  own   affairs,  our  chief  interest  is   in  its 


194  COLLEGE    TOM 

position  on  the  larger  questions  which  even 
then  had  appeared,  questions  which  the  next 
century  has  had  to  grapple  with,  and  some 
of  which  it  will  bequeath  to  its  successor. 
On  the  rights  of  man  we  have  seen  the 
strong  and  fearless  position  that  was  taken, 
and  it  is  delightful  to  find  that  in  the  rights 
of  man,  those  of  women  were  included.  The 
signature  "  Thomas  Hazard  Clerk  this  time  " 
occurs  frequently,  but  one  can  imagine  no 
occasion  on  which  it  was  signed  with  greater 
vigor  than  to  the  following  minute  which 
he  is  instructed  to  draw  up.  The  Nine-part- 
ners Monthly  Meeting  had  sent  "  lines  " 
strongly  intimating  that  it  is  not  according 
to  their  practice  to  receive  women  Friends 
unless  their  certificate  is  signed  by  at  least 
the  Clerk  of  the  Men's  Meeting  :  — 

Therefore  in  Condefention  to  our 
friends  of  the  monthly  meeting  at  Nine- 
partners  we  do  hereby  direct  the  Clerk 
of  this  meeting  to  signifie  to  s^  monthly 
meeting  that  we  have  neither  precedent 
nor  Difcipline  amongst  us  for  such  a  prac- 
tice, neither  do  we  think  it  Convnant  So 
far  to  Degrade  our  women's  meeting,  But 
to  Let  them  have  the  Ufe  &  Exerfise  of 
our  Difcipline  as  occasion  may  call  for  it 


TEMPERANCE  195 

in  Conducting  the  affairs  of  their  meeting 
not  Defiring  the  Preheminence  where 
Truth  admits  of  none  But  believing  that 
both  male  &  female  are  all  one  in  Christ 
Jefus. 

Thomas  Hazard  Clerk  this  time.^ 
I''  day  of  y^  4  mo  1771 
Something  of  the  indignation  of  the 
courtly  gentleman  at  the  offered  indignity 
to  the  women  he  has  treated  with  such 
respect  all  his  life  seems  to  breathe  in  this 
minute,  as  well  as  his  conviction  of  the  true 
equality  of  the  sexes.  Thus  on  another  of 
the  vexed  questions  of  to-day,  College  Tom 
spoke  his  word  with  vigor  and  decision. 

Nor  was  he  silent  on  temperance.  It  is 
interesting  to  trace  a  bit  of  early  legislation 
on  that  subject  directly  to  the  South  Kings- 
town meeting,  and  to  College  Tom  himself. 
In  1 768  occurs  this  entry :  — 

There  being  many  Disorders  com- 
mitted near  our  annual  General  Meeting 
at  South  Kingstown  by  Rude  Libertine 
Disorderly  people  Black  Tawnies  & 
others  Some  of  whom  expofmg  Liquor 
and  Cakes  to  sale  by  means  of  which 
Liquors  some  are    Drunken    &c   greatly 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  235. 


196  COLLEGE    TOM 

to    the    Scandal    of    Religion    therefore 
friends  are  Defired  to  find  out  and  prose- 
cute such  meafures  as  may  remove  said 
grievences         29  of  y^  8  mo  1768.^ 
The  next  month  the  matter  was  referred 
to   the    Quarterly    Meeting,    and    Thomas 
Hazard  sent  as  representative.     From  this 
quarterly  meeting   he    was   appointed  with 
Thomas  Steere,  Ephraim  Congdon,  William 
Redwood  and  Joseph  Congdon  to  present 
a  petition  and  act  to  the  General  Assembly 
to   prevent   the   selling   of  liquor  and  the 
playing  of  games   on  the  days  of  the  Gen- 
eral Meetings  near  the  places  of  assembly. 
The  act  contains   many  of  the  phrases  of 
the   minute  and    was   doubtless  drawn    by 
Thomas  Hazard,  as  the  following  letter  from 
William  Redwood  indicates.     It  is  written 
in  a  beautiful  copperplate  hand  addressed 
To 

Thomas  Hazard  Son  of  Rob* 
in 

South  Kingstown. 
Newport  2"^^  mon.  21''.  1 769. 

Efleemed  Friend 

Thy    favour    of     17* 
Ins'  with  the  Petition  &  Act  of  Afsem- 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  i.  p.  207. 


LETTER  FROM  WILLIAM  REDWOOD     197 

bly  came  to  hand  yefterday.  I  have 
Signed  the  Petition,  and  shall  enquire 
what  number  the  Committee  confifled  of, 
if  they  are  not  all  inferted  in  the  Act,  I 
will  insert  them,  with  the  day  of  the 
opening  of  the  Sefsions,  and  forward 
them  as  soon  as  pofsible,  agreeable  to  thy 
request. 

I  Remain  with  much  Efteem 

Thy  Afsured  Friend 
William  Redwood 
Thomas  Hazard. 

From  the  preamble  of  the  act  an  idea  of 
the  holidays  of  the  time  is  gained.  Play- 
ing at  quoits,  wrestling,  and  exercising  in 
any  other  games,  with  running  horses,  are 
forbidden,  within  a  proscribed  distance  of 
the  meeting,  with  the  sale  of  "  cakes,  beer, 
cider,  rum,  or  any  other  spirituous  liquor 
by  retail."^  This  act  seems  to  have  been 
among  the  earliest  temperance  legislation 
in  the  Colony.  Slaves  are  specially  men- 
tioned in  it,  the  owner  having  to  pay  the 
fine  in  case  a  slave  is  the  offender. 

The  account  book  contains  only  a  few 
entries  mentioning  the  meetings.     "  Oringes 

^  R.  I.  C.  R.,  vol.  vi.  p.  578. 


198  COLLEGE    TOM 

and  Lemmonds  "  were  sent  for  to  Newport 
on  one  occasion  when  the  meeting  was 
held  in  Narragansett,  but  they  were  not 
obtainable,  and  Latham  Clarke,  who  had  the 
commission,  brought  back  the  money.  In 
1770  Peleg  Peckham  is  charged  with  "shoe- 
ing thy  mare  in  y*  Journey,"  and  "  one  shil- 
ling eight  pence  p'^  when  we  pafs^  y^  ferrys 
to  Newport."  As  Peleg  Peckham  was 
clerk  of  the  meeting,  they  were  presumably 
going  to  a  quarterly  meeting  in  Newport. 
In  1775  comes  an  entry  — 

^mo  yth  jj^y     'Pq   Qj^g  large   Veal    Calve 
skin  y^  day  I  set  out  for  the  Quarterly 
meeting.     Sent  per  Rowland 
and  later  another  mention 

1778     6"  9'^     To  three  Ditto  (calfskins) 
when  I  went  to  y"  yearly  meeting 
7*^'  mo  8*^  day     To  three  Ditto  when  I 
went  to  y^  Quarterly  meeting. 
A  few  copies  of  the  minutes  of  the  meeting 
are  found,  one  with  a  list  of  the  members 
of  the  meeting   for  sufferings.-^     Nor  were 
Friends  unmindful  of  the  importance  of  edu- 
cation.   As  early  as  1 780  a  committee  upon 
which  Thomas  Hazard  served,  appointed  by 
the  yearly  meeting,  reported  upon  the  need 
of  capable  teachers  to  carry  out  the  views 

^  Appendix. 


YEARLY  MEETING  SCHOOL  199 

of  the  Society  respecting  the  education  of 
youth,  and  suggested  the  appointment  of  a 
further  committee  to  take  the  matter  into 
"solid  consideration."  Thomas  Hazard, 
Moses  Brown,  EHsha  Thornton,  WilHam 
Rotch,  and  others  were  appointed  to  con- 
sider plans  for  erecting  a  school,  for  the 
education  not  only  of  the  children  of  the 
Society,  but  to  train  teachers,  and  provide 
instruction  for  poor  children.^  On  the  8th 
of  nth  month,  1784,  this  school  was  opened 
at  Portsmouth  and  continued  four  years. 
In  1785  the  South  Kingstown  meeting  sent 
£*]  2S.  as  a  subscription  to  the  stock  of 
"  the  yearly  meeting  school," "  which  closed 
for  want  of  funds  the  next  year.  After  a 
four  years'  interval  Thomas  Hazard  was 
again  on  a  committee  "weightily  to  consider 
in  what  way  the  fund  (gradually  increasing, 
but  still  inadequate  to  maintain  a  school) 
might  be  most  beneficially  applied  consist- 
ently with  the  intention  of  the  donors."^ 
This  school,  through  the  fostering  care  of 
Moses    Brown,   one   of   the    original    com- 

^  R.  I.  Yearly  Meeting  Records. 

2  ^.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  ii.  p.  255. 

3  Samuel  Austin.     Thomas  Hazard,  son  of  Robert  (un- 
published). 


200  COLLEGE    TOM 

mittee  on  its  foundation,  opened  again  in 
Providence,  January  i,  1819,  and  has  be- 
come the  now  famous  Friends'  School/ 

Once  before  Thomas  Hazard  had  been 
interested  in  the  foundation  of  an  educa- 
tional institution.  The  act  of  incorpora- 
tion of  Rhode  Island  College,  passed  in 
1764,  names  him  as  one  of  the  incorpora- 
tors, and  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  origi- 
nal Board  of  Fellows  at  the  same  time.^ 

But  the  Revolutionary  question  was  the 
absorbing  one  of  the  time,  and  the  Friends 
of  South  Kingstown  bore  noble  testimony 
against  "  Carnal  war  and  Fightings."  This 
is  a  phrase  of  College  Tom's,  who  signs  him- 
self Clerk  of  the  day,  upon  which  the  min- 
ute containing  it  is  drawn  up.  The  hand- 
writing of  the  Narragansett  men  of  the  last 
century  is  very  similar.  Peleg  Peckham, 
Joseph  Congdon,  and  Thomas  Hazard  all 
wrote  very  much  alike,  but  I  am  inclined  to 
think  after  careful  comparison,  that  the 
Thomas  Hazard,  Clerk  this  day,  is  his  own 
signature,  and  the  first  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  pages  of  the  second  book  of  Records, 
as  well  as  several  marriage  records,  are  in 

1  Augustine  Jones.     Moses  Brown,  p.  24. 

2  R.  L  C.  R.,  vol.  vi.  p.  386. 


FRIENDS'  SUFFERINGS  20I 

the  same  hand.  He  and  Peleg  Peckham 
are  appointed  in  1778  to  transcribe  "the 
several  Rules  or  Minutes  of  the  Yearly 
Meeting,"^  and  throughout  his  life  his  pen 
seems  to  have  been  at  the  service  of  the 
meeting,  from  the  time  in  1753  when  he 
presented  his  first  copy  of  minutes  at  the 
request  of  Friends.  It  is  an  excellent  clear 
hand,  both  strong  and  flowing,  and  ends 
in  1 78 1,  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence,  which 
is  continued  by  a  different  person.  All 
through  the  war  this  same  hand  records  the 
minutes,  and  very  often  Thomas  Hazard  is 
instructed  to  draw  them.  The  sufferings  of 
Friends  ramified  in  a  way  we  should  hardly 
think  of.  Not  only  were  they  subjected 
to  hardship  by  the  distraining  of  goods 
when  they  felt  obliged  to  decline  the  pay- 
ment of  their  rates,  but  they  must  not  be  con- 
cerned in  any  of  the  profits  of  war.  We 
can  hardly  blame  the  good  Friend  who  in 
the  scarcity  of  reading  matter  bought  what 
came  to  hand,  but  he  is  dealt  with  because 
he  "purchafed  some  Books  at  a  Vandue 
that  came  on  Shore  in  a  Vefel  &  fold  as 
plunder  taken  in  War."  -    The  money  itself 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  ii.  p.  io8. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  120. 


202  COLLEGE    TOM 

became  a  difficulty  to  a  tender  conscience. 
At  an  adjournment  at  Newport,  13th  day 
ist  mo.  1776,  there  was  some  — 

Advice  to   F*^'  in  regard   to  receiving 
and  pafsing  the  late  paper  Currency  that 
is  made  and  pafsed  in  these  Colinies  If- 
sued  Exprefsly  for  the  purpose  of  carry- 
ing on  war  it  is  recommended  to  friends 
Serious    Consideration  and    Obfervation 
and   that  each  Particular  meeting  have  a 
coppy  thereof  to  read  publick/ 
Numberless  Friends  were    disowned  for 
being  concerned   in  military  matters,  even 
so  far  as  to  hire  substitutes,  and  the  young 
men  who  enlisted  themselves,  "  the  offence 
being  so  repugnant  to  Truth,"  were  summa- 
rily denied. 

Friends  were  advised  by  the  meeting  for 
sufferings  at  Providence  of  8th  mo.  13th, 
1776,  to  "enter  deeply  into  themselves  & 
not  implicitly  follow  the  sentiments  of 
others,  but  see  that  their  proceedings  therein 
are  in  the  liberty  of  the  Truth."  ^  This  is 
in  relation  to  the  act  called  the  Test  Act, 
passed  by  the  General  Assembly  in  June  of 
the  same  year.     Suspected  persons  of  ques- 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  ii.  p.  55. 

2  Appendix,  Minute  of  Meeting  for  SufTerings. 


THE    TEST  ACT  203 

tionable  loyalty  to  the  United  Colonies 
were  required  to  subscribe  to  a  declaration 
that  the  war  against  Great  Britain  was 
"  just  and  necessary  "  and  to  promise  to  af- 
ford no  assistance  to  the  king's  armies  or 
fleets,  but  hearty  aid  in  the  defense  of  the 
United  Colonies.  A  special  clause  pro- 
vides that  "in  case  any  person  so  sum- 
moned shall  produce  a  certificate  from  the 
Clerk  of  any  Meeting  of  the  Friends,  that 
he  is  in  unity  with  that  society,  or  shall 
make  the  affirmation  directed  in  an  act  en- 
titled 'An  act  for  the  relief  of  persons  of 
tender  consciences,  and  for  preventing  their 
being  burthened  with  military  duty,'  he 
shall  be  excused  from  subscribing  to  the 
said  declaration  or  test."  ^ 

The  South  Kingstown  meeting  accord- 
ingly took  action  and  made  the  following 
minute,  nth  month,  1776. 

This  meeting  is  informed  that  through 
late  Laws  Friends  are  subjected  to  severe 
penalties  on  certain  Requifitions  which 
they  may  be  releafed  and  excused  from 
by  Producing  a  Certificate  to  the  chief 
Officers  from  our  Clerk  Setting  forth  that 
they  are  members  of  the  Religious  So- 

1  R.  I.  C.  E.,  vol.  vii.  p.  568. 


204  COLLEGE   TOM 

ciety  called  Quakers  therefore  the  clerk 
is  directed  to  make  and  Sign  Certificates 
to  our  members  applying  for  the  same 
where  no  diforder  or  irregularity  doth  ap- 
pear and  every  such  applying  member  is 
earnestly  desired  to  Examine  and  see  that 
nothing  be  done  out  of  the  truth  that  our 
Teftimony  may  be  preferved  pure  and  no 
reproach  brought  upon  friends.^ 
But  though  the  meeting  was  so  strong 
in   its   testimony  against  war,  it  was  very 
pitiful  for  the  suffering  which  followed  in 
its  wake. 

jst    jmo    j^^g 

It  is  the  advice  of  this  meeting  that  all 

friends  that  has  suffered  or  may  hereafter 

Suffer  on  ace'  of  milliterry  Services  send 

the  acc*^  and  prices  thereof  in  Value  of  s*^ 

Sufferings  to  the  Clerk  of  this  meeting 

and  for  the  Clerk  to  Transmit  an  ace'  to 

the  meeting  for  Sufferings.^ 

Thomas   Hazard,  from   the   first,  was    a 

member  of  this  Meeting  for  Sufferings,^  and 

was  present  at  every  meeting  for  the  first 

two  years,  fifteen  meetings  in  all,  and  very 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  ii.  p.  51. 

2  Ibid. 

8  R.  I.  Yearly  Meeting  Records,  1776. 


RELIEF  OF  SUFFERING  205 

regularly  throughout  the  troublous  times. 
Nor  was  Friends'  concern  confined  to  their 
own  society.  Thomas  Hazard  was  one  of  the 
signers  of  the  address  sent  to  both  General 
Washington  and  General  Howe.  "  As  vis- 
iting the  fatherlefs  &  the  widows,"  it  reads, 
"  and  relieving  the  distrefsed  by  feeding  the 
hungry  &  clothing  the  naked,  is  the  subject 
of  this  addrefs  we  cannot  doubt  of  thy  atten- 
tion to  our  representation  and  request  on 
their  behalf."  It  informs  the  generals  that 
the  petitioners  have  been  intrusted  with  a 
considerable  sum  of  money  from  Friends  in 
Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey,  and  asks 
leave  to  enter  Boston  to  seek  and  relieve 
sufferers.  John  Collins,  T.  Hazard,  Moses 
Farnum,  I.  Lawton,  and  Moses  Brown  are 
the  signers.^  At  the  meeting  for  sufferings 
of  2d  month,  1776,  T.  Hazard,  son  of  Rob- 
ert, and  Moses  Brown  make  report  that  the 
committee  have  distributed  the  donation  to 
the  late  sufiferers  in  Boston  and  Charlestown, 
now  dispersed  through  various  towns  which 
are  mentioned,  "  the  n°  of  necefsitous  fami- 
lies &  single  persons  being  141,  &  the  am't 
distributed  (at  this  time)  ^229,4^  as  p"^  accV 
These   two   friends    had    the    towns    about 

1  R.  I.  Yearly  Meeting  Records. 


206  COLLEGE    TOM 

Washington's  headquarters  at  Cambridge 
assigned  them  as  their  district,  and  the 
"  great  Bay  Mare  "  never  made  a  more  im- 
portant journey.  It  was  perhaps  of  this 
journey  that  a  charming  story  is  told.  Col- 
lege Tom,  oppressed  doubtless  with  a  sense 
of  the  difficulties  of  his  task,  and  the  sad 
state  of  his  country,  mounted  his  horse  and 
rode  down  the  lane  followed  by  the  loving 
eyes  of  his  wife,  and  the  bright  gaze  of  a 
young  relative.  As  he  disappeared,  the  girl 
turned  to  go  in,  when  her  aunt  said,  "  Wait 
a  moment,  he  has  forgotten  something," 
and  presently  the  clatter  of  the  horse's 
hoofs  was  heard  returning.  Up  the  lane 
he  rode,  stooped  and  kissed  his  waiting 
wife,  and  set  off  with  good  courage  upon 
his  journey. 

The  war  pressed  close  home,  when  it 
came  not  only  to  Newport,  but  to  the  very 
borders  of  Thomas  Hazard's  farm.  On  the 
31st  of  8th  month,  1778, — 

The  preparative  meeting  of  So.  Kings- 
town informs  this  meeting  y*  the  Old 
Meeting  House  in  s"^  Town  has  been 
lately  occupied  as  a  Hofpital  for  the  sick 
lately  landed  out  of  the  French  fleet  and 
greatly  Damaged  and  likewife  a  pale  and 


DAMAGES  BY  WAR  20/ 

board    fence    almost    wholly    Diftroyed. 
Therefore    Andrew     Nichols     Jr.     and 
Thomas  Hazard  of  Rob'  are  appointed  to 
apply  to  the  Barrak  master  (and  Others 
whose  right  and  Bufmefs  it  is  or  may  be) 
requefting  the  reparation  of  s''  Houfe  and 
fences  or  adequate  Damages  therefor/ 
The  committee  on  damages  soon  — 
.  .  .  report  that  they   Understood   thirty 
pounds  only  of  the  ^54  and  upward  which 
the  Damages  done  to  s"^  House  &  Fences 
about  the  Lott  were  Eftimated  at  were 
allowed  &  that  s^  thirty  pounds  was  not 
yet  paid     Therefore  Thomas  Hazard  is 
Defired  to  apply  for  the  same.^ 
This  experience  in  treating  with  French 
officers  fitted  him  to  serve  on  the  committee 
of  Friends  at  Newport  in  1781,  which  was 
instructed  to  wait  upon  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  French  Army,  as  the  meeting 
deems  "  it  incumbent  to  uphold  our  Chris- 
tian testimony  against  our  houses  of  worship 
being   used    for   purposes    of    war."     The 
French  officers  who  were   in  possession  of 
the  meeting-house  treated  the  committee  re- 
spectfully, "  and  according  to  afsurance  then 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  7?.,  vol.  ii.  p.  109. 

2  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  113. 


208  COLLEGE   TOM 

given  caused  the  house  to  be  cleared  &  in  a 
few  days  the  key  to  be  delivered  up  &  the 
house  in  our  quiet  pofefsion."  ^ 

In  this  year  he  was  also  on  a  committee 
to  draw  up  and  sign  a  statement  of  what 
"  may  be  best  to  transmit  to  posterity  "  as  to 
the  sufferings  of  friends  for  the  Testimony 
of  the  Society.  This  paper  has  not  been 
found,  but  it  can  hardly  carry  greater  weight, 
as  to  the  principle  involved,  than  the  minute 
recorded  in  College  Tom's  own  hand  ex- 
pressing the  sense  of  the  South  Kingstown 
meeting :  — 

25th  6mo.  1781. 
This  meeting  being  under  a  weighty 
concern  to  maintain  the  several  Branches 
of  Our  Chriffian  Teflimony  and  as  that 
against  war  or  Contributing  thereto  is 
One  wherein  wee  at  present  are  Tried 
in  a  more  Especial  Manner  Therefore 
Tho'  Hazard  Tho'  Wilbur  Jn°  Knowles 
and  Amos  Collins  are  appointed  to  Vifit 
Friends  in  their  Families  and  to  En- 
courage them  to  have  an  Ear  open  to 
the  Voice  of  Truth  in  their  Own  Hearts 
&  to  attend  to  its  Inftruction  regarding 
Every  Tender  Scroople  not  Only  respect- 

1  R.I.  Yearly  Meeting  Records,  1781. 


DEPREDA  TIONS  OF  WAR  209 

ing  the  Payment  of  such  requisitions  as 

are  or  may  be  wholly  for  the  Purpofes  of 

war ;  But  alfo  where  they  may  be  mixed 

And  to  be  fully  perfuaded  that  they  move 

therein    Confiffant    with    the    mind    of 

Truth    believing  that  thofe   who   Doubt 

and   yet    Pertake   are     Condemned.     S"* 

committee  are  to  make  report  as  soon  as 

they  conveniently  can/ 

The    diary   of   Nailer  Tom    shows    how 

close   home    the    trial    pressed.     May    8th, 

1779  "Regulars  landed    in  Point   Judith" 

is  his    laconic  record.     On  the  21st  of  the 

same  month    "  The    Regulars    landed    last 

night  and  carried  off  negroes,"  he  says.     A 

week   later   "  the   privateersmen    took    the 

fish  boats.     I  went  to  see  them,"  he  adds. 

The  next  month,  June  2d,  while  he  "held 

harrow  for  Cousin   Hazard,"  and  "  Planted 

our   beans,"    "  Chaddock  was    taken  in  his 

fish    boat   by  the    Privateersmen."     A  few 

days  later  "  The  Regulars  landed  and  took 

Samuel   Congdon  "  and  "  burnt  two  houses 

last  night."     All  this  happened  in  the  early 

days  of  June;  on  the   12th  there  was  "an 

alarm    in  the    night."-     But   in  spite  of  it 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  ii.  p.  273. 

*  Narr.  Hist.  Register,  vol.  i.  No.  i,  pp.  39-40. 


2IO  COLLEGE    TOM 

all  the  daily  life  went  on,  and  Nailer  Tom 
hoed  corn  and  made  stone  wall  for  Cousin 
Hazard.  Cousin  Hazard  is  an  important 
figure  in  his  diary.  He  helps  him  make  hay, 
bring  home  his  wheat  and  rye ;  "  Cousin 
Hazards  bees  swarmed  and  flew  away  into 
Knowles'  garden "  ^  is  a  fact  important 
enough  to  make  the  item  of  a  day.  He 
lodges  and  dines  with  Cousin  Hazard,  and 
records  the  visitors  there.  "  The  three 
Suseys,"  Susey  Hazard,  Susey  Champlin, 
and  another  cousin  "staid  at  cousin  Haz- 
ard's." "  Tommy  and  Nancy  "  came  to  the 
old  home,  "  Tommy,"  the  second  son,  who 
is  called  so  by  all  his  contemporaries,  hav- 
ing married  Anna  Rodman,  June  6,  1780. 
He  was  the  first  son  to  leave  home,  going 
"into  the  verge  of  Greenwich  meeting," 
the  records  declare,  and  then  to  New  Bed- 
ford, the  home  of  his  charming  wife,  where 
he  became  a  whaling  merchant,  and  finally 
to  New  York.  Robert,  the  eldest  son, 
went  to  Vermont  about  1790,  apparently; 
as  late  as  1794,  Thomas  Hazard,  Jr.,  writ- 
ing to  his  daughter  Sarah,  who  is  visiting 
her  grandparents  at  Tower  Hill,  says  that 
"  thy  grandfather's  journey  into  Vermont  I 

*  Narr.  Hist.  Register,  vol.  i.,  No.  4,  p.  283. 


OLD  MEETING-HOUSE  DESTROYED     211 

fear  will  be  too  much  for  him  at  this  ad- 
vanced time  of  life."  ^  The  third  son,  Row- 
land, applied  to  the  monthly  meeting,  in 
1790,  for  a  certificate,  as  he  was  going  to 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  on  "outward 
bufmefs  and  has  the  profpect  of  Rifiding 
there  for  a  time."  ^  So  Thomas  Hazard's 
house  was  left  desolate.  In  this  same  year 
also  the  meeting  is  informed  that  the  "  old 
Meeting  Houfe  is  demolished  by  fire,"  and 
that  Friends  "  now  have  no  settled  place 
to  meet  in."^  College  Tom  was  immedi- 
ately put  upon  the  committee  "  to  Confider 
of  a  Size  Suitable  to  build  a  meetinghous 
where  the  old  hous  was  ;  "  but  it  seems  an 
epitome  of  the  shattered  life  of  the  country- 
side, so  desolated  by  war  that  the  very- 
meeting  was  rendered  homeless  for  the 
time. 

But  brighter  days  came  to  the  farm  with 
the  coming  of  the  sweet  daughter-in-law, 
after  whom  Peace  Dale  is  named.  She 
came  to  Narrasransett  as  the  bride  of  Row- 
land  Hazard  during  the  summer  of  1794, 
and  was  greeted  by  the  large  family  con- 

1  Extracts  from  The  Journal  of  Sarah  Howland,  com- 
piled by  Hovvland  Pell,  p.  84. 

2  S.  K.  M.  M.  R.,  vol.  iii.  p.  22.        »  Ibid.,  vol.  iii.  p.  8. 


212  COLLEGE   TOM 

nection  with  great  cordiality.  The  few  who 
remember  her  speak  of  her  with  great 
enthusiasm  as  a  most  sensible  and  delight- 
ful woman.  Thomas  Hazard,  Jr.,  writing  to 
his  young  daughter  at  Tower  Hill,  quaintly 
expresses  his  admiration.  "  I  fully  rely," 
he  writes,  "  on  thy  attention  to  the  advice 
&  council  of  thy  grandmother  and  aunt 
whose  refined  experience  will  be  improving 
to  thee."  ^ 

The  long  life  of  College  Tom  was  now 
drawing  to  a  close.  He  had  lived  to  see 
great  changes.  Born  in  an  almost  patri- 
archal state  of  society,  surrounded  with 
slaves,  with  many  relatives  as  his  com- 
panions, with  many  acres  under  cultivation 
by  his  father,  and  the  colonists  loyal  sub- 
jects of  the  king,  he  now  saw  the  great 
farms  divided,  the  country  impoverished, 
and  launched  on  its  independent  career, 
and,  what  he  most  cared  for,  the  Society  of 
Friends  in  Rhode  Island  owning  not  a  slave 
among  its  members,  and  using  all  the  force 
of  its  example  as  well  as  its  preaching 
to  exterminate  the  slave  trade.  His  long 
efforts  had  borne  fruit.  In  his  latter  years, 
Thomas  R.  Hazard  says  he  used  himself  as 

^  Extracts  fromThe  Jour7ial  of  Sarah  Howland,  p.  85. 


CHANGES  IN  NARRAGANSETT        2 1 3 

an  example  of  the  deceitfulness  of  the  human 
heart.  It  was  a  point  of  doctrine  he  had 
always  sought  to  inculcate  in  his  preaching, 
but  he  at  last  discovered,  he  said,  "that 
he  himself  had  ruled  South  Kingstown 
monthly  meeting  forty  years,  in  his  own 
will,  before  he  found  it  out !  "  ^ 

As  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  her  followers 
appeared  in  the  very  early  part  of  our 
narrative,  Jemima  Wilkinson  appears  in 
these  last  years.  She  had  her  following  on 
Kingston  Hill,  the  Little  Rest  which  under 
her  despotic  sway  must  have  literally 
deserved  its  name.  Husbands  were  parted 
from  wives,  and  children  from  parents. 
She  attempted  to  raise  the  dead ;  the  Uni- 
versal Friend  became  the  author  of  discord. 
In  1784,  the  year  which  saw  the  culmina- 
tion of  so  many  of  Thomas  Hazard's  hopes, 
she  left  Narragansett  for  her  "  New  Jerusa- 
lem" in  the  Genesee  Country.'-  What 
Thomas  Hazard  thought  of  these  proceed- 
ings we  do  not  know.  It  is  another  in- 
stance of  the  individualism  which  marked 
the  Narragansett  Country  that  the  proph- 
etess flourished  in  it  so  long. 

1  T.  R.  Hazard,  Recollection  of  Olden  Times,  p.  1 08. 

2  Updike,  p.  233. 


214  COLLEGE    TOM 

But  New  Lights,  and  Ranters,  and  wars, 
and  demolitions  by  fire,  began  to  lose  their 
interest  to  the  old  man  so  touchingly  de- 
scribed by  his  daughter-in-law. 

MARY  PEACE  HAZARD  TO  ROWLAND  HAZARD. 

South  Kingstown,  Oct.  17,  1796. 
As  to  thy  father  or  mother  taking 
charge  of  it  (the  farm)  it  is  impossible  for 
thy  father  seems  to  notice  nothing.  He 
is  no  more  than  a  child.  I  do  not  think 
he  can  live  much  longer.  He  goes  to 
meeting  of  a  first  day  but  the  only  way 
he  knows  when  it  comes  is  by  having  a 
clean  shirt  given  him  to  put  on.  He 
does  not  go  on  fifth  days  because  he 
does  not  know  when  it  comes.  He  has 
at  present,  I  believe,  gotten  a  bad  cold 
for  his  back  is  so  lame  he  cannot  turn 
himself  in  bed.  He  has  been  so  for  three 
or  four  days.  Thy  mother  is  also  very 
poorly.  There  is  scarcely  ever  a  day  but 
she  is  obliged  to  lie  down  three  or  four 
times.  She  has  been  the  same  way  all 
the  spring  and  summer.  She  has  got  a 
complaint  I  hardly  think  she  will  get  rid 
of.  Dr.  Easton  has  been  to  see  her 
several  times  but  he  does  not  do  her  any 


RECORD   OF  DEATH  215 

good.  He  has  been  over  here  on  account 
of  a  lawsuit  he  has  with  Tommy  Hazard 
the  blacksmith  and  stayed  here  night 
before  last.  Thy  mother  talked  with  him 
about  herself.  He  has  promised  to  send 
her  some  medicine  over  by  the  first  oppor- 
tunity but  he  does  not  seem  to  have 
much  faith  in  it  himself.  He  told  her  she 
might  depend  upon  it  that  if  it  did  her  no 
good  it  would  do  her  no  harm. 

There  were  still  two  years  which  College 
Tom  had  to  live,  and  it  is  almost  a  relief 
to  find  the  entry  in  the  Friends  Meeting 
Records,  — 

Thomas  Hazard  Son  of  Robert  and 
Sarah  Hazard  Departed  this  Life  the 
26"^  of  S*"^  M°  1798  about  8  o'clock  in 
the  Evening  and  was  buried  the  28"'  of 
the  Same  Who  Was  in  the  78"^  year  of 
his  age^ 

That  is  all ;  there  is  no  word  of  eulogy, 
no  mention  of  his  long  and  faithful  service, 
no  statement  even  of  the  meeting  for  his 
funeral,  or  the  place  of  his  burial.  Tradition 
says  that  his  grave  was  made  in  the  burial 

1  S.  K.  M.  M.  Records  of  Births,  Marriages,  and  Deaths. 
"  Old  Book,"  p.  27. 


2l6  COLLEGE    TOM 

ground  of  the  old  Meeting-house  he  loved, 
but  the  life  that  he  lived,  a  life  full  of  the 
faithful  performance  of  the  daily  duty,  full 
of  high  and  strenuous  endeavor  for  all  right 
thinking  and  noble  living,  the  life  which 
served  his  own  day  so  well,  has  left  its  im- 
press upon  succeeding  generations. 


APPENDIX. 


SELECTIONS   FROM   COLLEGE   TOM'S 
PAPERS. 

1698-1795. 

I.    Mr.  Samuell  Sewall's  Deed. 

{Parchment,  twenty-six  inches  by  thirteen^ 

This  Indenture  made  the  Twenty  Eighth  day  of 
Aprill  Anno  Dom'  One  thousand  Six  hundred  Ninety 
and  Eight  And  in  the  Tenth  Yeare  of  the  Reigne  of 
our  Sovereigne  Lord  King  William  the  Third  over 
England  &c^  Between  Samuell  Sewall  of  Boston 
in  the  County  of  Suffolke  within  his  Maj^'^s  Province 
of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England  Esqr 
and  Hannah  his  wife  of  the  one  part,  and  Thomas 
Hazard  of  Boston  Neck  in  the  Kings  Province  or 
Narragansett  Country  in  New  England  aforesaid  Yeo- 
man on  the  other  part  Wittnesseth  that  the  said 
Samuell  Sewall  and  Hannah  his  said  wife  for  and  in 
Consideraton  of  the  Summe  of  Seaven  Hundred 
Pounds  Current  money  of  New  England  to  them  in 
hand  paid  and  Secured  in  the  Law  to  be  paid  att  and 


2l8  APPENDIX 

before  the  Ensealeing  and  delivery  of  these  presents 
by  the  said  Thomas  Hazard,  wherewith  they  acknow- 
ledge themselves  to  be  fully  Satisfied  and  contented. 
And  therefore  they  the  said  Samuell  Sewall  and  Han- 
nah his  said  wife  Have  given  granted  bargained  Sold 
aliened  enfeoffed  conveyed  and  confirmed,  and  by 
these  presents  for  themselves  and  their  heires  Doe 
ffully  freely  cleerly  and  absolutely  give  grant  bar- 
gaine  Sell  aliene  enfeoffe  convey  and  confirme  unto 
the  said  Thomas  Hazard  his  heires  and  assignes  for 
ever  Three  Hundred  Acres  of  Land  of  their  ffarme 
Scittuate  lying  and  being  in  the  Pettaquamscot  Pur- 
chase in  the  Narragansett  Country  aforef'^  which  Rob- 
ert Hannah  Lately  occupied ;  which  said  three  Hun- 
dred Acres  of  Land  is  butted  and  bounded  Southwest 
upon  Land  of  Jahleel  Brenton,  Northeafl  by  Samuel 
Wilfons  Land  and  Northvvefl  by  Land  of  the  said 
Sewall  Viz'  the  remaining  Two  hundred  acres  of  faid 
ffarme  reserved  to  him  said  Sewall  thereont  next  Sac- 
atuckett  River.  Alfo  all  their  Shares  right  and  Jnter- 
eft  of  and  in  the  Lands  on  y^  Neck  called  and  knowne 
by  the  name  of  Little  Point  Judith  Neck.  Also 
all  that  their  Lott  of  Land  containing  by  Eftimacon 
Six  hundred  Acres  be  the  fame  more  or  lefs  lying  in 
the  Narragansett  Country  aforef'^  by  the  seaside  there, 
being  the  Lott  N^  2  and  is  bounded  Westward  by  the 
Lott  of  Thomas  Mumford,  and  Eastward  by  the  Lott 
of  Benedict  Arnold  or  however  otherwise  the  premis- 
ses are  bounded  or  reputed  to  be  bounded.  Together 
with  all  and  Singular  the  profitts  priviledges  wayes 
Easements  rights  Libertyes  advantages  benefits  comod- 
ities  hereditanits  emoluments  and  appurtenanses  what- 
soever to  the  said  granted  and  bargained  premifses 


APPENDIX  219 

and  to  every  part  and  parcel  thereof  belonging  or  in 
any  wise  appertaining  or  therewith  now  or  heretofore 
used  occupyed  or  enjoyed.  And  the  revercon  and 
revercons  remainder  and  remainders  rents  ifsues  and 
profitts  thereof.  And  alfo  all  the  Eftate  right  title 
Intereft  inheritance  use  pofsefsion  Dower  thirds  prop- 
erty claims  and  demand  whatsoeV  of  them  the  faid 
Samuell  Sewall  and  Hannah  his  said  wife  and  of 
either  of  them  of  in  and  to  the  Same  and  every  part 
thereof  To  Have  and  to  Hold  all  the  above  and  be- 
fore mentioned  granted  and  bargained  premisses  with 
th'  appurtenances  and  every  part  and  parcel  thereof 
unto  the  said  Thomas  Hazard  his  heires  and  afsignes 
forever.  To  his  and  their  owne  Sole  and  proper  ufe 
benefitt  and  behoof  from  henceforth  and  forever 
more.  And  the  faid  Samuel  Sewall  and  Hannah  his 
said  wife,  and  their  heires,  all  and  Singular  the  before 
hereby  granted  and  bargained  premisses  and  every 
part  and  parcel  thereof  with  th'  appurtenances  unto 
the  said  Thomas  Hazard  his  heires  and  afsignes, 
againft  them  the  said  Samuell  Sewall  and  Hannah  his 
said  wife  their  heires  and  afsignes,  and  every  of  them, 
and  againft  all  and  every  person  and  persons  claime- 
ing  by  from  or  under  them  or  any  of  them  Shall  and 
will  warrant  uphold  and  forever  defend  by  these  pres- 
ents. And  the  said  Samuell  Sewall  and  Hannah  his 
said  wife  for  themfelves  their  heires  Execute^  and 
Administratores  hereby  covenant  promife  grant  and 
agree  to  and  with  the  f"^  Thomas  Hazard  his  heires 
and  afsignes  in  manner  following  That  is  to  Say 
That  he  the  faid  Thomas  Hazard  his  heires  and  af- 
signes and  every  of  them  Shall  and  may  by  force  and 
virtue  of  these  presents  from  henceforth  and  forever 


220  APPENDIX 

hereafter  Lawfully  freely  peaceably  and  quietly  have 

hold  use  occupy  pofsefsn  and  enjoy  all  and  Singular 
the  abovegranted  and  bargained  premifses  with  th'  ap- 
purtenances and  every  part  and  parcel  thereof :  and  all 
and  every  the  rents  ifsues  and  profitts  thereof,  without 
any  manner  of  Lett  Suite  trouble  vexation  eviction 
disturbance  hindrance  or  moleftation  whatsoeV  of  the 
i^  Samuel  Sewall  and  Hannah  his  s^  wife  their  heires 
or  afsignes  or  of  any  other  person  or  persons  what- 
soev"",  any  thing  haveing  or  Lawfully  claimeing  in  the 
said  premifses  or  any  part  thereof  from  by  or  under 
them  or  any  of  them.  Free  and  cleere  and  cleerly 
acquitted  exonareted  and  discharged  of  and  from  all 
and  all  manner  of  former  and  other  gifts  grants  bar- 
gaines  Sales  Leases  releases  mortgages  Joyntures 
dowers  Judgements  Executions  entailes  fines  forfeit- 
ures Seizures  amerciaments  and  of  and  from  all  other 
titles  troubles  charges  and  Incumbrances  whatsoever 
had  made  committed  done  or  Suffered  to  be  done  or 
to  be  had  made  coihitted  done  or  Suffred  to  be  done 
by  the  said  Samuel  Sewall  and  Hannah  his  said  wife 
or  either  of  them  their  or  either  of  their  heires  or  af- 
signes or  any  others  by  their  or  any  of  their  meanes 
act  consent  privity  or  procurement  att  any  time  or 
times  before  or  after  the  enfealeing  hereof  In  Witt- 
NEfsE  whereof  the  said  Samuel  Sewall  and  Hannah 
his  s<^  wife  party  to  thefe  prefents  have  hereunto  Sett 
their  hands  and  Seales  the  day  and  yeare  firft  above- 
written. 

Sam  Sewall  Hannah  Sewall 

(Two  seals.) 


APPENDIX  221 


Endorsement  on  back. 


Rec«i  the  day  and  yeare  firft  within  written  of  the 
within  named  Thomas  Hazard  the  Summe  of  ffive 
hundred  Pounds  Current  money  of  New  England  in 
part  pay""'  of  the  purchase  consideracon  within  men- 
coned,  and  taken  his  bond  or  obligacon  for  the  other 
Two  hundred  pounds. 

Sam  Sewall. 

Signed  Sealed  and  Deli^d  in  prefence  of  us 

William  Longfellow 
Joseph  GARifH 

Boston  Aprill  28th  1698 
The  within  named  Samuell  Sewall  Efq""  and  Han- 
nah his  wife  perfonally  appeareing  before  me  the  Sub- 
fcriber  one  of  the  members  of  his  Maj^'^s  Council  for 
the  province  of  the  Mafsachusetts  Bay  in  New  Eng- 
land &  Justice  of  Peace  in  the  Same  Acknowledged 
this  Instruf"*  to  be  their  ffree  and  voluntary  act  & 
deed. 

John  Walley 

Memorandum  that  on  the  fowrth  day  of  May  :  Anno 
Dom'  1698  Full  quiet  and  peaceable  pofsefsion  of  all 
and  every  y^  Lands  within  mentioned  to  be  granted 
was  Taken  and  Had  by  Thomas  Mumford  of  Poynt 
Judith  in  the  Naragansett  Country  Yeoman  the  At- 
torny  of  the  within  named  Samuell  Sewall  and  Hannah 
his  wife  by  force  and  virtue  of  a  Letter  of  attorney  to 
the  i^  Thomas  Mumford  in  that  behalf  by  them  made 
beareing  date  y«  28''>  day  of   April  1698.     For  and  in 


222  APPENDIX 

behalf  of  the  said  Samuell  Sewall  and  Hannah  Sewall. 
And  was  afterwards  by  the  Same  authority  for  and  in 
their  name  delivered  by  the  f^  Thomas  Mumford  unto 
the  within  named  Thomas  Hazzard.  To  hold  to  him 
the  f*'  Thomas  Hazard  his  heires  and  afsignes  accord- 
ing to  ye  forme  &  Effect  of  the  within  written  deed. 
In  prefence  of  those  whofe  names  are  hereunto  fub- 
fcribed. 

Joseph  Hull 
Nathanael  Niles 
The  mark  of  X  Robert 
Nicol 

All  the  within  and  before  Written  Inftruments  are 
Recorded  orderly  In  the  19.  20  &  21  pages  of  the 
Second  Booke  of  Land  Evidences  belonging  to  Kings- 
town No.  3    Aprill  the  8th  17 14. 

Pi:         Sam^l  Fones  Town  Gierke 

Endorsed  on  the  back, 
M""  Samuell  Sewall's  deed. 


II.     Receipt  for  Rent  from  Mr.  Brenton. 

Newport  June  the  e*''  1702  then  received  of  M"" 
Thomas  Hazard  Six  pounds  current  money  of  New 
England,  it  being  in  full  for  four  Years  Rent  of  a  lott  of 
Land  in  the  Little  neck  in  Pettaquamfcut  from  Lady 
Day  1698  to  Lady  Day  1702. 

P^  me  Jahleel  Brenton. 


APPENDIX  223 


III.     Letter  from  Judge  Sewall  to  Thomas 

Hazard. 

{Paper  written  on  two  sides  of  a  double  sheet ^ 

Boston  Feby  21  1689. 
Maj"?.  Walley 

Sir,  I  have  rec'd  a  letter  from  the  Pettaquamscot 
Purchasers  earnestly  soliciting  me  either  to  meet  them 
myself  at  Pettaquamscot,  or  Newport,  or  else  to  im- 
power  some  body  in  my  Stead  to  give  them  a  Meeting 
for  the  further  settlement  «&  Division  of  our  Lands ; 
that  so  there  may  be  a  bar  laid  in  the  way  of  those 
who  are  ready  enough  to  take  the  advantage  in  this 
time  of  so  much  Lawlefs  Liberty,  to  intrude  themselves 
into  the  Pofsefsions  &  Lands  of  others,  to  the  exclu- 
lion  of  the  Rightfull  Owners.  My  Circumflances  are 
such  that  I  cannot  attend  it  myself,  and  I  Intreat  you 
to  pardon  my  freedom  with  you  in  defiring  you  to 
undertake  so  troublesome  a  piece  of  Service  for  me. 
Necefsity  in  a  great  meafure  puts  me  upon  it,  not 
knowing  whom  to  impower :  and  the  concern  is  not  to 
be  slighted  wherefore  I  hope  you  will  deny  yourself  so 
far  as  to  engage  in  it.  I  presume  they  have  by  them 
a  Copy  of  their  Letter  to  me,  which  will  give  you  an 
account  of  the  businefs.  I  would  intreat  you  in  all 
respects  to  act  in  my  behalf  as  you  would  do  for  your 
self  were  the  Case  your  own  as  it  is  mine.  Tis  like 
they  may  not  speak  of  dividing  Point  Judith  Neck. 
If  they  find  it  necefsary,  I  have  the  Right  of  two 
elevenths  at  leaft,  if  not  more  ;  and  in  the  Little  Neck 
by  the  outlet  had  more -en  [then  ?]  half,  if  not  all ;  till  I 
sold  one  Share  to  my  Tenant  Rob'  Hannah  whom  in- 
treat you  to  Salute  and  encourage  in  my  Name  when 


224  APPENDIX 

you  see  him.     He  is  Son  in  Law  to  Mr  Wilson  one  of 
the  purchasers.     &c  &c. 

Mr.  Thomas  Hazard,  What  is  above  written,  and 
that  on  the  foregoing  fide,  is  a  true  extract  copyed 
out  of  my  Letter  to  Major  John  Walley  deceafed,  when 
he  dwel'd  at  Briflol ;  as  it  Hands  enterd  in  my  Booke 
of  Letters.     I  am 

I  have  fent  you         Sir,  your  friend  &  Serv' 
one   of  my  Leafes  Samuel  Sewall. 

to  Robert  Hannah. 
Boflon  ;  Nov:  5 '.I' 
1716. 
(Addressed)  For 

Mr.  Thomas  Hazard 

At  Kingston 

Narraganfet 

IV.    Opinion  of  the  King's  Attorney  General 
IN  Regard  to  a  Quaker  Governor. 

{Written  on  three  sides  of  a  double  sheet) 

Cafe 

The  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  by  Virtue  of  their 
Charter  granted  them  by  King  Charles  Anno  1663 
Annually  Elects  their  own  Govern^  &  Inferior  Officers 
both  Civil  &  Military. 

Qu^  Whither  One  of  the  People  called  Quakers 
upon  being  chosen  Govern''  of  the  said  Colony  is 
Oblidged  to  take  a  Solemn  Oath  to  the  Acts  of  Trade 
considering  our  Charter  and  the  Indulgence  granted 
them  by  Act  of  Parliament  in  Respect  to  Oaths  And 
whither  a  Solemn  Engagement  upon  an  Affirmation  is 
not  Sufficient  in  that  Cafe. 


APPENDIX  225 

I  Have  Perufed  &  Confidered  that  Clause  in  the 
Charter  which  Relates  to  the  Election  of  a  Governour 
and  likewife  that  Clause  which  Directs  that  before  his 
Entry  upon  his  Office  he  shall  give  a  Solemn  Engage- 
ment by  Oath  or  Otherwife  for  the  due  and  faithful! 
Performance  of  his  Duty. 

I  Have  likewife  read  over  the  Opinion  of  M'.  Auch- 
muty  which  was  left  along  with  this  And  am  of  Opin- 
ion that  a  Quaker  if  duly  elected  Governour  may  act  as 
Such  without  being  Oblidged  to  take  any  Oath  whatfo- 
ever. 

The  Solemn  Engagement  which  he  is  to  Oblidged  to 
enter  into  by  the  Charter  may  be  by  Oath  or  Other- 
wife  And  instead  of  the  Abjuration  Oath  and  the 
Oath  of  allegiance  and  Supremicy  There  are  Cer- 
tain forms  of  Affirmation  or  Declaration  prefcribed 
by  the  Stat.  8  G.  j.  to  be  taken  by  Quakers  in  lieu 
thereof. 

As  to  the  Oath  directed  to  be  taken  by  the  Govern- 
ours  of  English  Plantations  by  the  Stat.  7  &  8  W  &  8 
&  9  W  for  the  Obfervance  of  the  Several  Acts  relating 
to  the  faid  Plantations  I  am  of  Opinion  upon  Confid- 
eration  of  the  Several  Acts  made  in  favour  of  Quakers 
That  if  a  Quaker  Governour  Solemnly  Affirms  in  the 
form  Prefcribed  by  act  of  Parliament  That  he  will  Ob- 
serve the  Several  Acts  relating  to  the  English  Planta- 
tions ;  Such  Affirmation  will  be  deemed  a  sufficient 
Complyance  in  him  to  the  faid  Two  Acts  7  &  8  W  &  8 
&  9  W  And  will  exempt  him  from  the  Penalties  of 
thefe  acts. 

J  WiLLES  Augs*  26'^  1734 
A  True  Copy 

Exam  per  J  Lyndon  Cler 


226  APPENDIX 

London  6™°-  the  27th  1734. 
Govern''  Wanton 

This  Serves  to  Inclofe  the  Kings  Attorney 
Generals  Opinion  Upon  the  Cafe  relating  to  a  Gov""- 
of  your  Colony  that  may  be  one  of  the  People  called 
Quakers  which  Opinion  I  think  is  Entirely  with  us  I 
am  in  great  Hopes  and  expectation  That  the  next 
Letter  will  bring  me  the  Agreeable  Advife  of  what  I 
requested  of  the  Colony  respecting  the  Augmentation 
of  my  Salary  which  I  really  deferve  confidering  the 
Paines  I  take  to  Serve  the  Colony  with  faithfuUnefs 
who  Am  Thy  afsured  Friend. 

Ri',  Patridge 
We  have  no  Warr  yet 

30th  Do-  Pray  Acquaint  my  Friends  Goulding 
Wanton  &  Coddington  I  have  this  Day  rec<^  the  Gold 
Dust  per  Wimple,  and  in  my  Next  fhall  advife  them  of 
it  and  what  Price  I  sell  it  for  and  that  I  have  got;^2oo 
Insur'd  on  the  Guns  per  Roufe  Potter  R.  P. 

A  True  Copy 

Exam  per  J.  Lyndon  Cler. 

V.  Attestation  of  Thomas  Foxcroft  and  Charles 
Chauxcy. 

{Paper  written  on  three  sides  of  a  double  sheet?) 

We  the  Subfcribers,  Teaching  Elders  or  Pastors  of 
the  first  gathered  (com.'y  called  the  Old)  Church  in 
Boston  New  England  being  desired  to  give  our 
Attestation  to  what  we  know  of  MefsJ^  W"^  Brenton, 
John  Hull  6-  Samuel  Wilbore  ancient  Members  of 
Our  said  Church  and  whose  Names  are  mention'd 
among  the  Petaqiiamfcut  Purchases. 


APPENDIX  227 

This  is  to  Certifie  all  whom  it  may  Concern 
That  in  the  said  Churche's  Book  of  Records  in 
Folio  (carefully  preserved)  We  find  the  following 
entries  made  fairly  written  At  the  head  of  Page  4'^ 
Stand  these  words  '■'■Members  admited  into  Boston 
Church  "  —  and  underneath  the  body  of  said  Page  is 
written  "/«  the  8'^  Month  1633  William  Brenton" 
with  others.  In  the  next  page  we  find  this  Entry 
^^  Members  further  Admited  upon  the  \^*  of  the  10'* 
Month  1633  Satnuel  Willbore  &c  And  in  the  26'* 
page  still  under  the  head  of  Members  admitted  in 
this  Entry  "  The  \eih  jDay  of  the  W^  Month  1648  {by 
Elder  Oliver)  John  Hull  the  son  of  our  Brother  Robert 

Hull"  &LC. 

That  Our  said  Church  was  from  the  beginning 
(Anno  1630)  accounted  One  of  the  Strictest  Con- 
gregationall  Churches  in  all  New  England :  That  the 
Ancient  Custom  of  the  said  Church  has  been  to  ad- 
mit her  Adult  Male  Members  (i)  By  an  Examination 
of  them  per  the  Elders  both  as  to  their  Doctrinall 
Faith  and  Experimental  Piety  &c  (2)  by  their  being 
openly  propounded  by  the  Elders  sometime  before 
hand  in  the  Publick  Assembly  :  (3)  By  their  Exhibit- 
ing a  Relation  of  their  said  faith  &  Experience  to  the 
Church  in  Publick  :  (4)  By  the  Vote  of  the  Brethren 
of  the  Church  in  publick  :  &  (5)  By  a  Publick  entring 
into  an  Exprefs  &  Solemn  Covenant  with  God  and  with 
the  Church  ;  according  to  the  known  ancient  &:  usual 
Practice  of  Churches  Congregationall. 

That  our  said  Church  was  wont  from  the  beginning 
to  Exercise  a  strict  watch  and  Discipline  over  her  Mem- 
bers :  that  her  Ancient  Records  Report  to  us  Numerous 
Instances  of  Church  Censures  both  of  Excommuni- 
cation &  Admonition  pafsd  upon  her  faulty  Members 


228  APPENDIX 

together  with  the  Faults  perticularly  Specified  But  of 
the  above  mentioned  Brenton  Hull  6^  Wilbore  we  find 
no  Censure  or  fault  mentioned  throughout  the  Records 
Indeed  whereas  the  said  Brenton  cS^  Wilbore  with 
divers  others  of  the  Members  of  Our  Church  (as 
'tis  reported)  did  about  the  Year  1638  Remove  to 
a  Place  then  Called  Aquethnick  the  same  which  is 
now  Called  Rhode  Island  We  find  an  Entry  made  in 
Our  said  Book  of  Records  (page  12)  in  the  following 
words 

"  The  16'-^  Day  of  the  12^^  Month  1639  Our  Breth- 
ren M^  William  Hibbon  Captaine  Edward  Gibon  6- 
M*'  jfohi  Oliver  were  Chosen  6^  Delegated  by  the 
Church  to  go  to  the  Island  of  Aguethnicke  to  enquire  of 
the  State  of  Matters  amongst  our  Brethren  there  and  to 
require  some  satisfactory  Answer  about  such  things  as 
appear  to  be  Offensive  amongst  them."  Which  Records 
Show  both  the  covenanted  Memberfhip  of  the  Aqueth- 
nick Brethren  with  the  said  Church  and  the  Church's 
Brotherly  Affection  and  Concern  for  them  upon  the 
Rumor  of  Offensive  things  among  them  but  no  men- 
tion do  we  find  in  the  Records  of  any  fault  of  the  said 
Brethren  either  before  or  after ;  nor  of  any  Dealing 
with  them.  And  as  for  the  said  M"  Hull  it  is  well 
known  he  Continued  with  Our  Church  till  the  Year 
1669  when  he  became  one  of  the  Founders  or  first  Con- 
stituents of  the  2)^  gather'd  Congregationall  Church 
in  Boston  commonly  Called  the  South  Church.  This 
Gentleman  was  the  Treasurer  &  a  Magistrate  of  the 
Mafsachusets  Colony,  chosen  in  those  times  by  the 
Freemen  of  the  Colony  and  Maintain'd  the  Character 
both  of  a  Congregational  Man  and  a  ftrictly  Pious 
Christian  to  the  Day  of  his  Death  Octob''  1683  Which 
was  before  there  appear'd  any    Afsembly  of  Church 


APPENDIX  229 

of  England  People  in  all  this  Country  :  the  first,  and 
that  a  very  small  one,  being  set  up  at  Boston  about 
three  Years  after  the  said  M^  HulFs  Decease. 
The  late  Reverend  M""  Willard  then  Pastor  of  the 
said  South  Church,  embalm'd  his  Memory  in  An 
Excellent  Funeral  Sermon  in  Print ;  wherein  he  Ob- 
serves, "  This  Church  hath  lost  an  Hottoin-able  Mem- 
ber"  &c  And  having  given  him  a  High  &  Just 
Character  one  Article  of  which  is  "  The  Honourable 
Respect  he  bore  to  God's  Holy  Ordinances  by  Deligently 
attending  upon  them  "  &c.  He  Closes  his  Commen- 
dation of  M""  Hull  with  this  Remarkable  Exprefsion 
among  others ;  "  His  Constancy  in  all  these,  while 
Times  have  Chafiged — will /peak  the  Sincerity  0/  his 
Profe/sion  " 

Boston  N  E  Thomas  Foxcroft 

Jan""  29  1735  Charles  Chauncy 

Nova  Anglia  I  Joseph  Marion  Notary  &  Tabellion 
Publick  Dwelling  in  Boston  in  New  England  by 
Royall  Authority  Duly  admitted  &  sworn  do  hereby 
Certifie  all  whom  it  may  Concern,  That  the  Rev- 
erend Mefs»'s  Thomas  Foxcroft  &  Charles  Chauncy 
above  Named  are  Pastors  of  the  first  gather'd  (Com- 
monly called  the  Old)  Church  in  Boston  New  Eng- 
land who  have  Signed  the  foregoing  Certificate  by 
whom  Certificates  of  the  like  Nature  are  usually  made 
out  and  attested  and  accordingly  full  Faith  & 
Credit  is  and  ought  to  be  given  to  such  the  Attes- 
tation both  in  Judgment  Court  &  without  and  I 
further  Certifie  that  the  said  Mefs'^^  Foxcroft  & 
Chauncey  signed  the  said  Certificate  in  Presence  of 
me  the  said  Notary  Thus  Done  at  Boston  in  New 
England  this  29  Day  of  January  A  D  One  Thousand 


230  APPENDIX 

Seven  hundred  &  Thirty  five  Anno  R''    R's>  Georgij 
Secundi  Magnae  Britanniae  Nono 
Quod  attestor  manu  Sigilloq^   Officij 
Rogatus 

Jos  Marion  Not'*  Pub^us 
1735 

VI.    Will  of  Thomas  Hazard. 

{Six  Sheets  of  Manuscript,  acknowledgmeiit  and  appeal 

071  the  seventh^ 

I  Thomas  Hazard  of  South  Kingstown  in  the  Col- 
ony of  Rhode  Island  &c  Yeoman  being  Ancient  and 
unwell  but  of  Sound  mind  and  Memory  thanks  be 
given  unto  God,  Do  therefore  make  my  Laft  Will 
and  Teftament  and  as  touching  Such  Worldly  Eftate 
Wherewith  it  hath  pleafed  God  to  blefs  me  in  this  Life 
I  give  Devife  and  Difpofe  of  the  Same  in  the  follow- 
ing manner  and  form 

Imprimis  My  Will  is  That  all  my  Juft  Debts  and 
funerall  Charges  be  paid  and  Difcharged  in  Some 
Convenient  time  after  my  Deceafe  by  my  Executor 
hereafter  Named  Out  of  my  perfonale  Eftate 

Item  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  my  beloved  Sons, 
Viz,  Jeremiah  Hazard,  George  Hazard,  Benjamin 
Hazard,  and  Jonathan  Hazard,  the  sum  of  Twenty 
Shillings  Currant  Money,  to  be  Equally,  Divided 
amongft  them  that  is  to  Say  five  Shillings  Each  to 
them  their  Heirs  and  Affignes  for  Ever,  they  haveing 
all  and  Each  of  them  Receiv'd  their  portions  Allready, 
To  be  paid  in  Old  Tenor  So  Called, 

Item  I  give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  beloved  Grand- 
fon  Fones  Hazard  One  piece  or  tract  of  Land  Scituate 
Lying  and  being  in  S'^-  South  Kingstown  on  the  back 
Side  of  the  Pond,  So  Called,  and  is  part  of  a  tract  of 


APPENDIX  231 

Land  I  purchafed  of  Samuel  Sewell  Late  of  Bofton 
Deceafed  Containing  Two  Hundred  and  Sixty  Acres 
or  thereabouts,  and  is  bounded  Northerly  by  Land  of 
Said  Fones  Hazard  Eaflerly  by  Land  of  John  Potter 
Southerly  by  the  Sea  and  Wellerly  by  Land  of  Job 
Cord,  I  alfo  give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  Said  Grand- 
son Fones  Hazard  Two  Other  pieces  of  Land  Scituate 
Lying  and  being  in  Said  South  Kingstown  the  Biggeft 
piece  Containing  About  One  Hundred  and  Seventeen 
Acres,  More  or  Lefs,  Bounded  partly  on  Land  of 
James  Perry  and  partly  on  Land  of  John  Seagars, 
Eafterly  on  Land  of  George  Babcock,  and  Southerly 
on  a  High  Way,  and  Weflerly  on  S<i  Perry  the  Other 
Piece  of  Land  Scituate  Lying  and  being  in  Said  South 
Kingstown  Containing  About  Thirty  Seven  Acres, 
bounded  by  Land  of  Said  Perry  Northerly,  and  Eaft- 
erly by  Land  of  John  Seagars.  Southerly  on  the 
Other  piece  Laft  Mentioned  and  Wefterly  on  Land  of 
Said  Perry  all  Which  three  tracts  of  Land,  I  give  and 
Bequeath  unto  my  Said  Grandfon  Fones  Hazard  to 
him  and  his  Heirs  for  Ever  and  my  Will  is  That  if  my 
Said  Grandfon  Fones  Hazard  Should  Dye  Leaving  no 
Lawfull  Iffue,  that  then  the  Said  three  tracts  of  Land, 
Shall  return  unto  my  four  Sons  Viz  Robert  Hazard 
George  Hazard  Benjamin  Hazard  and  Jonathan  Haz- 
ard and  Shall  be  Equally  Divided  Amongft  my  Said 
four  Sons,  and  return  to  them  their  Heirs  and  Afligns 
for  Ever,  And  further  my  Will  is  that  if  my  Said 
Grandson  Fones  Hazard  Should  Leave  any  Lawfull 
Iffue  When  he  Dyeth  and  his  Iffue  Should  Dye 
before  they  Arrive  at  Lawfull  Age  of  Twenty  One 
Years  and  have  no  Lawfull  Iffue,  that  then  and  in 
that  Case  the  three  pieces  or  tracts  of  Land  hereby 
given  and  Bequeathed  unto  my  S^-  Grandson  Shall 


232  APPENDIX 

for  Want  of  Such  IfTue,  the  Same  Shall  return  unto 
my  Said  four  Sons,  as  Above  faid  to  them  their  Heirs 
and  Affignes  for  Ever 

Item  I  give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  beloved 
Daughter  Hannah  Eaflon  the  Sum  of  five  Shillings 
Currant  Money  Old  Tenor,  to  her,  her  Heirs  and 
Affignes  for  ever  She  haveing  Received  her  portion 
Already  to  be  paid  by  my  Executor  hereafter  Named, 

Item  I  give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  two  beloved 
Grand  Daughters  Merrian  Hazard  and  Hannah  Eaf- 
ton  Children  of  my  Daughter  Mary  Eafton  Late  of 
Newport  Deceafed  the  Sum,  of  One  Hundred  pounds 
Currant  Money  Old  Tenor,  to  Each  of  them  my  Said 
Grand  Daughters  to  be  paid  them  by  my  Executor 
"hereafter  Named  in  ten  Years  After  my  Difceafe,  but 
if  it  Should  happen  that  Either  of  my  Said  Grand 
Daughters  Should  Dye  before  the  Expiration  of  S<^ 
Ten  Years,  in  that  Cafe  my  Will  is,  that  the  Survivor 
of  them  Shall  have  the  Whole  of  Said  Two  Hundred 
pounds  at  the  time  Abovef^^  but  if  it  Should  happen 
that  both  my  S^  Grand  Daughters  Should  Dye  before 
the  Expiration  of  Said  Term  and  Leave  no  Lawfull 
Iffue  in  that  Cafe  the  Said  Legacy  Shall  be  Void  and 
Ceafe,  but  if  Otherwife  then  to  be  to  them  their  Heirs 
and  Affignes  for  Ever 

Item  I  give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  beloved  Grand 
Daughter  Mary  Hazard,  and  to  her  heirs  and  Affignes 
for  Ever  the  Sum  of  fifty  pounds  Currant  Money  Old 
Tenor,  to  be  paid  in  ten  Years  After  my  Difceafe  by 
my  Executor  hereafter  Named 

Item  I  give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  beloved  Grand 
Daughter  Sufannah  Gardner  and  to  the  Heirs  of  her 
Body,  the  Sum  of  fifty  pounds  Currant  Money  Old 
Tenor  to  be  paid  by  my  Executor  here  after  Named, 


APPENDIX  233 

in  ten  Years  After  my  Difceafe,  and  to  be  Equally 
Divided  Amongft  her  Heirs  After  her 

Item  I  give  and  Bequeath  unto  the  Children  of  my 
Grand  Daughter  Ruth  Underwood  Deceafed  the  Sum 
of  fifty  pounds  Currant  Money,  Old  Tenor,  to  be 
Equally  Divided  Amongfl  them  and  paid  by  my  Ex- 
ecutor hereafter  Named  in  Ten  Years  Affter  my 
Deceafe,  and  to  be  to  them  their  Heirs  and  Affignes 
for  Ever 

Item  I  give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  beloved  Daugh- 
ter Sarah  Eaflon  The  Sum  of  Two  Hundred  pounds 
Currant  Money,  Old  Tenor,  to  be  paid  to  her,  by  my 
Executor  hereafter  Named  in  ten  Years  After  my 
Deceafe  But  Notwithflanding  What  is  Abovefaid  My 
Will  is  That  if  my  Said  Daughter  Sarah  Eafton 
Should  have  Occaffion  of  any  part  of  Said  Two  Hun- 
dred pounds  before  the  Expiration  of  the  Said  Term 
of  ten  Years  after  my  Deceafe  that  then  and  in  that 
Cafe  my  Executor  Shall  pay  to  her  any  part  of  Said 
Two  Hundred  pounds  as  her  Neceffities  may  re- 
quire at  the  Difcretion  of  my  Executor  and  if  it 
Should  happen,  that  She  my  Said  Daughter,  Should 
Depart  this  Life  before  the  Expiration  of  Said 
Ten  Years,  that  then  my  Said  Executor  Shall  pay 
unto  her  two  Sons,  James  and  John  Eafton,  the  Said 
Two  Hundred  pounds  to  them  or  to  their  Heirs,  or 
so  much  of  it  as  may  Remaine  Over  and  Above  of 
What  She  hath  Received  of  the  Said  Two  Hundred 
pounds 

Item  I  give  and  Bequeath  unto  the  Children  of  my 
Grand  Daughter  Sarah  Gardner  Which  She  had  by 
Ichabod  Potter  DeC^,  the  Sum  of  fifty  pounds  Currant 
Money  Old  Tenor,  to  be  Equally  Divided  Amongft 
them  and  to  their  Heirs  and   AlTignes  for  Ever   to 


234  APPENDIX 

be   paid    by   my   Executor   in   ten    Years   After   my 
Deceafe. 

Item  I  give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  beloved  Son 
Robert  Hazard  the  Sum  of  five  Shillings  Currant 
Money,  Old  Tenor,  I  alfo  give  unto  my  Said  Son 
Robert  Hazard  All  the  Remaining  part  Remainder 
and  Refidue  of  my  Estate  of  What  Kind  Nature  or 
Quality  Soever  Not  before  given  Away  by  this  prefent 
Will,  Whom  I  alfo  Conftitute  Make  and  Ordaine  and 
Appoint  my  Said  Son  Robert  Hazard  my  Whole  and 
Sole  Executor  of  this  my  Laft  Will  and  Tellament 
And  I  do  hereby  Revoke  and  DilTannuU  all  and  Every 
Will  or  Wills  heretofore  made  by  me,  Rattifying  and 
Allowing  this  and  no  Other  to  be  my  Laft  Will 
and  Teftament,  In  Witnefs  Whereof  I  have  hereunto 
Sett  my  Hand  and  Seal  this  Twelfth  Day  of  Novem- 
ber Annoque  Dom,  One  thoufand  Seven  Hundred 
and  forty  Six  1746 

The  Mark  of  Thomas   T    Hazard     (Seal.) 
Sign'd   Seal'd  Publifh'd  pronou'ced   and  Declared 
by  the  Said  Thomas  Hazard  to  be  his   Laft    Will  and 
Teftament  in  prefence  of  us  the  Subfcribers, 

John  HandEon  Jur 
Abigail  HandIon 
John  HandIon 

South  Kingstown  November  27th  A.  D.  1746 
PerIonally  appeared  before  the  Town  Council  of 
said  South  Kingstown  John  Handfon  Jun""'  Abigail 
Handfon  and  John  Handfon,  Witnefses  to  the  afore- 
going Inftrument,  And  on  their  Solemn  Engagements 
declared.  That  they  saw  Thomas  Hazard  late  of 
South  Kingstown  deceased.  Sign,  Seal,  and  Declare 
the  said  aforegoing    Inftrument  to  be   his   laft  Will 


APPENDIX  235 

and  Teflament  And  that  in  his  prefence  they  set 
their  Hands  as  Witnefses  thereunto,  And  that  the 
said  Teftator  was  in  his  perfect  Mind  and  Memory 
at  the  fame  time  The  said  laft  Will  and  Teftament 
being  thus  proved  it  is  approved  by  the  s^-  Town 
Council. 

Per  order  of  the  Town  Council 
BENja-  Peckcom  Jun""-  Cler.  of  the 

Council  for  the  day. 
From  which  Judgment,  Benjamin  Hazard  of  South 
Kingstown  in  behalf  of  Benjamin  Hazard  of  New- 
port in  the  County  of  Newport  prays  an  Appeal  unto 
ye  Governor  &  Council  of  the  Colony  of  Rhode 
Island  which  is  granted,  he  the  said  Benjamin  first 
giving  Bond  to  this  Town  Council  to  Profecute  s<^. 
Appeal  with  effect 

Per  order  of  the  Town  Council 
BENja-  Peckcom  Jun""-  Cler  of 
the  Council  for  the  day. 
The  above  and  aforegoing  Instrument  is  Recorded 
in  the  181  :  182  :  183  :  184:  185  and  186  Pages  of  the 
Book  of  Records  belonging  to  the  Town  Council  of 
South  Kingstown,  «S:c.  N°-  4  Jan""!'-    9'^  day  Annoque 
Dom :  1746 

By  Th"-  Hazard  Cler.  of  the  Concl : 

OPINION    OF   THE    GOVERNOR   AND    COUNCIL. 

Endorsed  "  Copy  yudgmcnt  {Go7/f  &^  CouncH)  on  the 
Appeal  Hazzard''s  vs  Hafzardr 
At  a  General  Council  of  the  English  Colony  of  Rhode 
Island  &  Providence  Plantations  in  New  England 
held  at  Newport  within  and  for  said  Colony  on  the 
fourth  Monday  of  August   in  the   Twenty  second 


I 


236  APPENDIX 

Year  of  the  Reign  of  his  most  sacred  Majesty 
George  the  Second  by  the  Grace  of  God  of  Great 
Britain  France  &  Ireland  King  Defender  of  the 
Faith  &c. 

Benjamin  Hafzard  of  Newport  in  the  County  of 
Newport  Merchant  and  Thomas  Haszard  Jun''  of  South 
Kingstown  in  the  County  of  Kings  County  Yeoman 
Appellant  from  the  Judgment  of  the  Town  Council  of 
South  Kingstown  aforesaid  held  at  said  South  Kings- 
town on  the  Twenty  seventh  Day  of  November  in  the 
year  1746  Robert  Hafzard  of  said  South  Kingstown 
Yeoman  Appellee  By  which  Judgment  a  certain  In- 
strument bearing  Date  the  Twelfth  Day  of  the  same 
Month  called  The  Last  Will  and  Testament  of 
Thomas  Hafzard  late  of  South  Kingstown  aforesaid 
Yeoman  deceased  was  proved  and  approved  And 
Now  the  Parties  being  heard  by  their  Attorneys  and 
John  Handson,  John  Handson  Jun*"  and  Abigail 
Handson  Wittnefses  to  the  said  Will  declared  on 
their  solemn  Engagements  that  they  saw  the  deceased 
Thomas  Hafzard  sign  seal  and  declare  the  said  Will 
to  be  his  Last  Will  and  Testament  and  that  in  his 
Presence  they  set  their  Hands  thereto  as  Witnefses 
and  that  the  said  Testator  was  in  his  Perfect  Mind 
and  Memory  at  the  same  Time  On  Consideration 
whereof  and  the  Arguments  of  the  Attorney  of  each 
Party  This  Council  do  confirm  the  Judgment  appealed 
from  and  it  is  hereby  confirmed. 

A  true  Copy  exam^  by 

Tho  Ward  Sec^y 


APPENDIX  237 

VII.     A   Copy  of   a  Letter    from    Quebeck  in 

Canada,  to  a  Pr —  M r   in   France,  dated 

October  ii,  1747. 

{Printed  on  three  sides  of  a  folio  sheet ^ 
Great  Sir, 

Being  refident  for  fome  Years  pad  in  this  remote 
Part  of  the  World,  and  my  chief  Employ  being  to  vifit 
the  feveral  Nations  of  India7is,  in  order  to  eflablifh 
them  in  the  Catholic  Religion,  which  makes  them  loyal 
Subjects  to  his  moft  chriflian  majefty  our  royal  maf- 
ter;  and  agreable  to  your  Inftructions,  great  Sir,  I 
have  taken  Pains  to  fettle  a  Correfpondence  with 
fome  of  our  Friends  among  the  Enemy,  who  have 
given  me  a  large  Account  of  the  feveral  Provinces, 
Cities,  Towns,  and  Villages,  along  the  Sea  Coaft, 
from  South-Carolina  to  JVeza-Foundland  f  A  particular 
Information  would  be  incredible  to  you  in  France, 
that  in  one  Century  fhould  fpring  out  of  a  barren 
Wildernefs,  fuch  a  Number  of  fine  large  Cities,  Towns, 
and  Villages,  peopled  in  fo  prodigious  a  Manner,  as 
to  amount  to  many  100,000  Inhabitants;  and  their 
Trade  in  Navigation  is  fo  furprizingly  large,  that  will 
furmount  your  Belief,  when  I  tell  you,  That  their 
Shipping  large  and  fmall,  is  fo  numerous  as  to  amount 
to  feveral  1,000  Sail,  that  they  even  cover  the  Seas, 
and  carry  on  Trade  to  almoft  all  Parts  of  the  World ; 
and  by  the  beft  and  moft  authentic  Accounts  I  have 
received,  the  Privateers  fitted  out  of  North-America, 
viz.  Boston,  Rhode-Island,  New-York  and  the  feveral 
Sea  Port  Towns,  did  us  more  Damage  this  War,  by 
diftreffing  our  Trade,  and  taking  our  Treafures  com- 
ing from  our  Sugar  Plantations,  than  all  the  Englifh 
Men  of  War  in  the  American  Seas.     The  Privateers 


238  APPENDIX 

were  fo  numerous,  and  of  fuch  Force,  from  20  to  30 
Guns,  that  would  block  up  our  Harbours,  and  take  a 
Fleet  of  Ships  at  once,  richly  laden  with  Plantation 
Produce,  befides  Silver  and  Gold  in  Abundance,  The 
Inhabitants  of  North-America  have  the  Spirit  and 
Blood  of  our  Oliver  Cromwell ;  they  are  of  the  Race 
of  Puritans  that  fled  into  New-England  in  The  time  of 
Perfecution,  and  they  maintain  an  implacable  Hatred 
againft  the  RomiJJi  Religion  ;  and  their  refolution  and 
undaunted  Courage  is  fuch  that  whatever  they  under- 
take by  Sea  or  Land  againft  us,  they  profecute  with 
fuch  violence,  that  we  dread  1,000  of  them,  more  than 
5,000  hired  Soldiers  from  Old  Eiigland :  Witnefs  that 
unparrallel'd  Conqueft  of  our  Cape-Breton;  such  a 
Fortrefs  as  we  did  not  fear  all  the  World  !  But  Oli- 
ver-X\kQ.,  They  faid.  They  could  take  it,  and  they  would 
take  it,  and  (to  the  Surprize  and  Wonder  of  all  the 
World)  they  did  take  it !  They  are  as  bold  as  Lions, 
and  carry  all  before  them  !  Their  Principles  are  fuch, 
they  have  no  Dread  in  Battle  :  They  are  taught  they 
ihall  not  die  a-moment  before  their  Time ;  fo  that  if 
10,000  Cannons  are  pointed  at  them,  they  regard  it 
not :  They  feem  to  be  like  the  Ifraelites  of  Old  1000 
will  put  10,000  to  Flight;  and  we  believe  in  Cafiada, 
if  20,000  Troops  had  come  from  Old-England,  they 
never  would  have  taken  that  Fortrefs ;  for  you  know, 
great  Sir,  fuch  an  Armament  never  fits  out  of  Eng- 
land, but  great  Part  of  the  Officers  are  Scotch  and 
Irijh,  and  many  of  them  of  our  Religion  ;  but  that  is 
a  Secret,  and  the  major  Part  are  feldom  of  any  Reli- 
gion ;  and  as  Money  is  what  they  are  after,  a  fufficient 
Number  of  our  Louis  d*  Ores  will  at  any  Time  furnifh 
them  with  a  tolerable  Excufe  to  raife  a  siege  and  with- 
draw.    What  a  fine  Joke  did  our  young  Hero  put 


APPENDIX  239 

upon  General  Copers  Army  in  Scotland,  by  our  taking 
Care  before  Hand  to  have  fome  of  our  hearty  Friends 
in  Office  in  that  Army ;  but  the  Fate  of  our  Friends 
in  Scotland  was,  the  Duke  had  a  Number  of  New 
Troops  raifed  by  fome  Proteftant  Noblemen,  who 
filled  up  their  Regiments  with  fuch  Officers  and  Sol- 
diers, that  was  not  in  our  Power  to  bribe,  nor  had  we 
Time  to  corrupt  them  ;  that  the  Duke's  Army  was 
like  thofe  New-Ettgland  Puritans,  who  have  their  Re- 
ligion fo  much  at  heart,  that  to  deftroy  our  Holy  Cath- 
olic Church  is  their  Glory ;  and  I  believe,  better  Sub- 
jects to  a  Proteftant  Prince,  is  not  to  be  found  on  the 
Globe ;  they  feem  to  be  united  as  one  Man  againft  us, 
except  a  Number  of  Scotch  and  IriJJi  that  fled  over  to 
Neiu-England,  that  are  of  our  Religion  and  fome 
lately  upon  that  fatal  Battle  at  Cullode?i :  and  I  under- 
ftand  fome  of  the  latter  were  Officers  in  Prince 
Charles^  Army,  and  I  truft  our  true  Friends  will  pro- 
mote them  ;  and  now,  great  Sir,  I  will  firft  inform 
you  of  our  prefent  Circumftances  in  Ca?iada,  and  then 
the  Reafon  New-England  fo  furprizingly  exceeds  us 
in  Number  of  Men,  Shipping,  Trade  6^<r.  and  then 
a  Method  to  weaken  and  impov'rifh  them,  and  ad- 
vance ourfelves  upon  their  Ruin.  As  to  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Canada,  our  principal  Men  are  Officers  and 
Factors ;  the  Officers  are  Spiritual  and  Military :  We 
of  the  fpiritual  Order,  you  know,  great  Sir,  will  have 
the  Fat  of  the  Land  at  Home  or  Abroad ;  the  Civil 
and  Military  are  yearly  paid  their  feveral  Salaries, 
with  Cafh  fent  from  our  Royal  Mafter,  with  which 
they  make  a  confiderable  Figure,  the  Planters  and  Arti- 
ficers are  generally  very  poor,  feldom  having  any 
Money  but  when  the  Soldiers  are  paid  off,  and  then 
they  get  a  few  Livres,  but  are  immediately  obliged  to 


240  APPENDIX 

go  and  pay  it  to  the  Factors,  who  trufted  them  for 
fome  coarfe  Clothing,  and  the  Factor  fends  the  Ca(h 
to  France  again,  in  order  for  a  new  Supply  of  Goods ; 
and  the  poor  Creatures  feldom  handle  a  Livre  more, 
until  the  Soldiers  are  paid  off  again,  and  I  am  bold 
to  fay,  all  our  little  Farmers  and  Mechanics  are  not 
able  to  build  and  fit  out  a  Veffel  of  any  Bignefs  a  for- 
eign Voyage.  If  they  can  own  a  Filhing  Shallop, 
they  are  brave  Fellows  !  And  were  it  not  for  the  Na- 
tives, by  our  extraordinary  Pains  and  Induftry,  we 
get  and  keep  in  our  Intereft,  we  Ihould  be  foon  drove 
out  by  thefe  implacable  OUveriatis.  But  I  muft  now 
inform  you,  the  true  Reafon  our  Enemies  on  the  Sea 
Coaft,  fo  abundantly  furmounts  us  in  Men,  Shipping, 
Trade,  ^^c.  as  our  Friends  inform  me  :  They  fay, 
When  thofe  Puritans  firfl  came  over  to  Netv-England^ 
they  were  distreffed,  as  we  now  are,  for  want  of 
Money,  and  could  not  fit  out  a  Ship  nor  Veffel  no 
better  than  our  Poor ;  but  as  Neceffity  is  the  Mother 
of  Invention,  they  got  into  a  Method  of  making  Paper 
Money,  and  it  foon  obtain'd  a  Currency,  fo  that  in  a 
little  Time,  the  feveral  Provinces  got  into  the  Prac- 
tice, and  furnifhed  the  Inhabitants  with  large  Sums, 
at  an  eafy  Lay,  that  in  a  fhort  Time  they  were  enabled 
to  tear  up  Trees  by  the  Roots,  and  to  fplit  the  Rocks 
in  Pieces,  clear  their  Land,  Fence  it  in,  plough,  fow, 
reap  and  mow,  build  Houfes,  Ships,  and  Veffels  of  all 
forts,  load  them  with  Marts,  Spars,  Boards,  Staves, 
Oyl,  Bone,  Fifh,  Tar,  Turpentine,  Iron,  Beef,  Pork, 
Butter,  Cheefe,  Wheat,  Flour,  Rice,  Tobacco,  Skins, 
Furs,  &=€.  So  that  in  half  a  Century  they  covered 
the  Seas  with  Ships  and  Veffels,  and  fent  them  to  for- 
eign Markets,  and  in  Return,  over  and  above  what 
Produce  they  wanted,  they  bought  vaft  Quantities  of 


I 


APPENDIX  241 

Gold  and  Silver,  and  fent  that  Home  to  their  Mother 
Country  to  pay  for  what  Neceffaries  they  wanted,  hav- 
ing no  use  for  the  fame,  fo  long  as  Paper  Currency 
anfwers  for  a  Medium  of  Trade.  The  making  Paper 
Money  I  am  told  has  been  of  fuch  general  Advantage, 
that  they  fend  Home  in  hard  Cafli,  many  ;^i 00,000 
per  Annum  and  there  are  very  few  poor  amongft  them. 
The  Farmers  and  Tradefmen  of  all  forts,  are  jointly 
concerned  with  the  Merchant  in  building  and  fitting 
out  Ships  and  Veffels,  and  concerned  in  owning  and 
fitting  out  Privateers  this  War,  fo  that  we  need  not 
wonder  the  Seas  were  fo  full  of  them  out  of  North- 
America,  when  all  the  Inhabitants  of  all  Ranks  and 
Degrees  are  unanimoufly  agreed  to  ferve  their  King 
and  Country,  and  diftrefs  us,  and  all  by  the  Help  of 
that  pernicious  Paper  Money,  that  makes  them  rich 
and  powerful,  able  to  do  Wonders  by  Sea  and  Land. 
I  am  told,  the  fmall  petty  Colony  of  Rhode  IslaJid,  has 
200  Sail  of  Veffels  belonging  to  it,  and  had  above  20 
Sail  of  Privateers  of  large  Force  this  War ;  and  if  the 
Governments  are  fuffered  to  go  on  making  Paper 
Money,  they  will  drive  us  out  of  this  Part  of  the 
World,  without  ony  Help  from  their  Mother  Country. 
And  I  muft  tell  you,  great  Sir,  if  Half  the  Force  that 
took  Cape-Breton  had  come  directly  to  Quebeck,  we 
fliould  have  furrend'red,  for  our  chief  Concern  was 
about  packing  up  our  Alls  and  vamping  off,  having  a 
Rumour  of  their  coming;  and  we  dreaded  thefe  Puri- 
tans, knowing  there  were  none  of  our  Religion  amongfl 
them ;  and  they  were  not  to  be  bribed  with  Louis 
d'Ores,  as  the  European  Officers  often  are :  But  the 
Scheme  I  propofe,  great  Sir,  is,  I  have  certain  Infor- 
mation, That  great  Numbers  of  the  rich  Merchants 
have  a  Defire  to   have   a  final  Stop  Put  to  Paper 


242  APPENDIX 

Money,  by  Reafon  the  Planters  and  Mechanics  run  fo 
much  into  Trade  and  Navigation,  that  they  cannot 
endure  their  fellow  Functioners  fhould  grow  rich  by 
the  fame  Advantage  as  they  got  their  Eftates  by. 

It  feems  moft  of  the  rich  Merchants  in  the  feveral 
Governments  were  originally  mean  Farmers  and 
Tradefmen,  as  Shoemakers,  Taylors,  Copperfmiths, 
Carpenters,  and  the  like  :  But  what  Need  we  care 
what  they  were,  or  what  they  are,  if  we  can  accomplifh 
our  Ends  by  their  Help  ;  and  to  bring  this  about,  great 
Sir,  we  muft  employ  our  Friends  at  London  and  elfe- 
where,  and  advife  them  to  make  our  Scotch  Friends  in 
the  feveral  Towns  in  New-England  popular,  by  putting 
them  into  Bufmefs,  as  Matters  of  Ships,  and  by  Con- 
figning  large  Quantities  of  Goods  to  others,  which  will 
make  them  popular  and  powerful ;  fo  that  they  may 
get  into  Favour  with  fuch  Merchants  as  are  against 
Paper  Money,  and  then  by  any  Art  or  Craft,  get  a  num- 
ber to  fign  a  Petition  to  go  Home  to  the  Parliament  of 
Great-Britain,  in  order  if  poffible  to  put  a  Stop  to  the 
Currency ;  and  if  fuch  a  Petition  fhould  come  to  Lon- 
don, figned  as  before  mentioned,  you  muft  enjoin  our 
true  Friends  in  and  about  London,  to  spare  no  Pains 
nor  Money  to  get  the  Petition  to  pafs  ;  and  if  we  bring 
this  Scheme  about,  and  ftop  a  Paper  Currency,  I  am 
bold  to  fay,  inftead  of  their  having  a  hundred  large 
Privateers  out  of  North-America,  it  will  be  a  Wonder 
if  they  have  Twenty  ;  for  I  am  told,  the  Farmers  and 
Tradefmen  have  put  their  Land  in  Pledge  for  the  Paper 
Money  they  fit  out  fo  many  Veffels  with ;  and  the  Mer- 
chants that  have  got  the  Paper  Money  in  their  Hands 
for  the  European  Goods,  defign,  as  foon  as  it  is  flopped, 
and  to  be  called  in,  to  take  the  Lands  that  are  in 
Pledge  from  all  the  common  People  j  fo  that  all  the 


APPENDIX  243 

lower  Clafs  will  become  like  our  Poor,  to  be  well 
off  to  own  a  Fifliing  Shallop.  I  would  advife  our 
Scotch  Friends,  as  soon  as  the  Paper  Money  is  ftopp'd 
and  to  be  called  in,  to  collect  all  that  they  pofTibly  can 
of  that,  that  is  outftanding  ;  by  this  Method  they  will 
come  in  for  a  large  Share  of  Lands,  and  fo  become 
little  Lards ;  and  it  may  be,  in  half  a  Century,  we  may 
have  their  feveral  Clans  to  affift  us  as  we  have  in  the 
Highlands.  The  next  Method  I  propofe,  is  to  reduce 
the  richeft  Merchants  among  them,  and  oblige  them  to 
leffen  their  Trade  ;  and  that  is,  great  Sir,  you  mud 
write  to  our  feveral  rich  Planters  at  our  Sugar  Iflands, 
and  advife  them  to  employ  a  Number  of  our  polite 
Frenchmen,  and  fend  them  into  the  feveral  Sea  Port 
Towns  on  the  Continent,  viz.  Bojlon,  Rhode-IJland, 
New-  York,  Philadelphia,  and  wherever  we  can  carry  on 
Trade  ?  and  thefe  Men  mufl  get  in  Favour  with  fome 
confiderable  Merchant  in  each  Town,  to  furnifh  them 
with  a  fufficient  Number  of  Veffels,  in  order  to  bring 
over  our  Produce,  fuch  as  Rum,  Sugar,  MolafTes ;  in 
fhort,  we  mufl  wink  and  connive  at  any  of  our  Produce, 
to  carry  on  our  Scheme  ;  but  let  Rum  be  the  chief 
Article,  for  by  our  manufacturing  that,  we  fhall  make 
double  Profit,  and  deprive  our  Enemies  of  that  Advan- 
tage. And  thofe  Men  thus  employed  mufl  improve 
the  E7igliJJi  Merchants  to  fell  our  Produce  for  them, 
who  will  readily  do  it  for  Part  of  the  Gain.  And  in 
order  to  procure  Silver  and  Gold ;  for  our  Planters 
mufl  not  take  any  Thing  in  Return  but  Cafh  ;  and  by 
this  Method,  we  may  procure  all  the  hard  Money  that 
is  flirring  amongfl  them  ;  for  when  Paper  Money  is 
once  flopped,  there  can  be  no  Medium  of  Trade ;  and 
their  Trade  will  be  fo  reduced,  that  there  will  be  but 
little  of  that ;  and  thofe  EngliJJi  Traders  that  are  not 


244  APPENDIX 

concerned  with  our  Friends,  will  foon  have  no  Ufe  for 
their  Veflels  ;  and  being  often  obliged  to  fell  at  a  low 
Price,  our  Friends  mull  be  employed  to  buy  them  as 
Opportunity  offers.  If  this  Method,  great  Sir,  is  in- 
duftrioufly  and  faithfully  purfued  and  carried  on,  we 
Ihall  unavoidably  impov'rifh,  diftrefs,  and  confound 
them :  All  the  lower  Clafs  will  no  more  be  able  to 
pay  for  Clothing  from  their  Mother  Country,  but  muft 
be  contented  to  live  as  they  did  of  Old  to  wander 
about  in  Sheep  Skins  and  Goat  Skins,  and  to  dwell  in 
Caves  and  Dens  of  the  Earth ;  and  thofe  of  the  high- 
est Clafs  will  be  obliged  to  leffen  their  Trade,  fell  their 
Veffels,  and  no  more  be  able  to  fend  Home  to  their 
Mother  Country,  fuch  Quantities  of  Silver  and  Gold. 
Then  no  more  New-England  Invafions,  no  more  beat- 
ing down  our  Walls  at  Cape-Breton ;  and  when  we 
have  another  War,  we  fliall  not  only  have  their  Money, 
but  their  Veffels,  and  their  Men  being  poor,  muft  feek 
Shelter  in  fome  foreign  Land. 

I  conclude,  great  Sir,  Your  obedietit  Servant  and 
faithful  Subject  to  His  Most  Chriflian  Majesty  our 
Royal  Mafler. 

Mc-  O Ne L. 

VIII.       SUSQUEHANNAH    COMPANY   RECEIPTS. 

(Written  on  small  pieces  of  paper  ^ 
Received  of  Robert  Hafzard  Esq''  of  South  Kings- 
town in  ye  Coloney  of  Rhodisland  two  Spaniih  Milled 
Dollors  in  Complyance  with  y^  vote  of  y^  Sufquehan- 
nah  Company  at  their  meeting  Held  at  Hartford  No- 
vember ye  21^'  1754. 

Received  p""  me     Sam^-  Gray  Comie. 


d 


APPENDIX  245 

Received  of  Robert  Hafzard  of  South  Kingflown  in 
Compliance  With  y^  vote  of  y^    Sufquehannah  Com- 
pany this  Day  Pali  at  Hartford  two  Spanifh  Milled 
DoUors     Received  p""  me 
Hartford  November 
ye  2ist  1754 

Windham  8th  jany  1768 
Received  of  Robert  Hazzard  Dec^  p""  ye  hand  of 
Thomas  Hazzard  three  Shillings  a  tax  Voted  by 
ye  Sufquahana  Compy  three  Shillings  on  Each  pro- 
prietor in  full  for  s<^  tax  which  was  Voted  to  be  paid 
to  Collo  John  H  Lydins 

p""  me  J  ERE  Clement  Com^ee  &  attorny 
for  S'^  Lydenis. 

Receiv^  March  the  4*  1768  of  Thomas  Haffard  as 
heir  at  Law  to  Robert  Haffard  Deceased  Three  Shil- 
lings Lawfull  money  being  the  one  third  part  of  the 
money  Voted  (by  the  proprietors  of  the  Sufquehannah 
Purchafe)  to  be  Raifed  on  Each  Right  at  the  adjourn- 
ment of  s^  Proprietors  meeting  the  6^'^  of  January  last, 
I  Receive  the  same  by  vertue  of  an  order  from  the 
Clerke  of  the  s^  Proprietors. 

p""  Ezra  Dean. 

S°  Kingstown  the  4th  of  ye  month  Called  Januy :  1767 
I  Jonathan  Hazard  of  Said  Town  County  &  Colony 
of  Rhode  Island  &c  yeoman  Do  Constitute  Thomas 
Hazard  of  same  Town  County  &  Colony  yeoman  to 
appear  at  the  Meeting  of  ye  Sufquehannah  Company 
to  be  held  at  Windham  by  adjournment  on  the  sixth 
of  this  Inftant  There  to  act  and  Do  any  Thing  or 
Things  relative  to  the  Purchafe  of  s^  Company  which 
Shall  be  as  binding  &  effectual  as  if  acted  &  done  by 


246  APPENDIX 

me  being  Perfonally  Prefent  as  Witnefs  my  Hand  the 
Day  first  above  Written 

Jonathan  Hassard. 
Ateft 

ROL''  ROBINfON, 

To  the  Company  or  proprietors  of  the  Sufquehan- 
nah  Purchace  or  to  thofe  of  them  that  may  be  Con- 
vened at  their  meeting  at  Great  Windham  (as  adver- 
tised) the  6'*>  day  of  this  Infl.  Jany  1768  I  hereby 
Certify  by  thefe  prefents  that  I  have  and  do  hereby 
Conftitute  and  appoint  my  Friend  Thomas  Haffard  of 
South  Kingstovi^n  in  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  to 
be  &  appear  at  the  Said  meeting,  and  there  for  me  and 
in  my  name  to  appear  act  and  do  all  and  Every  matter 
and  thing,  whatever  that  Shall  be  thought  Requifite 
and  Needfull  for  the  further  Eflablishment  and  good 
of  the  Said  Purchafe,  &  that  I  will  hold  what  the  Said 
Thomas  Haffard  Shall  do  for  &  Concerning  me  in 
Said  afair,  as  good  and  Valid  to  all  Intents  and  Pur- 
pofes  as  tho  I  were  Perfonally  Prefent,  —  In  teflimony 
whereof  I  have  hereunto  Subfcribed  my  name  this 
4^h  day  of  January,  a.  d.  1768. 

S.  Hassard 


IX.  An  Apprenticeship  Paper,  1768. 
(Printed  Form,  italicized  words  writteti  in.) 
This  Indenture  witnesseth,  That  Beiijamin 
Haszard  Son  of  Richard  Haszard  late  of  South  Kings- 
town in  the  County  of  Kings  County  in  the  Colony  of 
Rhode  Island  dj^c.  yeomati  deceased,  hath  put  hitnfelf  zxvd 
by  thefe  Prefents,  doth  voluntarily,  and  of  his  own  free 
Will  and  Accord,  and  with  the  Confent  of  Nicholas 
Easton  of  Newport  in  the  County  of  Newport  in  the 


APPENDIX  247 

Colony  of  Rhode  Island  &'c.  Esq^.  Executor  of  the  last 
Will  6-  Testament  of  the  said  Richard  Haszard  &•  who 
by  said  Will  is  impowered  to  put  out  the  said  Benjamin 
Haszard  Apprentice  put  and  bind  hi7nself  Apprentice 
to  Benjamin  Hall  of  Newport  aforesaid  Es(f.  And  to 
Abigail  Hall  his  Wife  to  learn  the  Art,  Trade,  or  Myf- 
tery  of  a  Cordwainer  and  after  the  Manner  of  an  Ap- 
prentice, to  ferv^e  from  the  Day  of  the  Date  hereof  for 
and  during  the  Term  of  te?i  Years  eleven  Months  dr*  sei<eti 
Days  next  enfuing,  to  be  compleat  and  ended.  During 
all  which  faid  Term  the  faid  Apprentice  his  faid  Master 
<5^'  Mistrefs  faithfully  fliall  ferve,  their  Secrets  keep, 
their  lawful  Commands  gladly  obey  :  he  fhall  do  no 
Damage  to  his  faid  Master  or  Mistrefs  nor  fee  it  done 
by  others,  without  letting  or  giving  Notice  thereof  to 
his  faid  Master  or  Mistrefs  he  fhall  not  waste  his  said 
Masters  or  Mistrefs' s  Goods,  nor  lend  them  unlawfully 
to  any.  he  fhall  not  commit  Fornication,  nor  contract 
Matrimony  within  the  faid  Term.  At  Cards,  Dice,  or 
any  other  unlawful  Game,  he  fliall  not  play,  whereby 
his  faid  Master  or  Mistrefs  may  have  Damage,  with  his 
own  Goods,  or  the  Goods  of  others  :  he  fliall  not  abfent 
himself  by  Day  or  by  Night,  from  his  faid  Masters  or 
Mistrefs' s  Service,  without  their  Leave  ;  or  haunt  Ale- 
houfes.  Taverns,  or  Play-houfes  ;  but  in  all  Things  be- 
have himself  as  a  good  and  faithful  Apprentice  ought 
to  do,  towards  his  said  Master  dv  Mistrefs  and  all 
theirs  during  the  faid  Term.  And  the  faid  Master  dv 
Mist?'efs  do  hereby  promife  to  teach  and  inftruct,  or 
caufe  the  faid  Apprentice  to  be  taught  and  inftructed 
in  the  Art,  Trade  or  Calling  of  a  Cordwainer  by  the 
beft  Ways  and  Means  they  can  And  to  find  and  provide 
for  said  Apprentice  good  6-  fufficient  Meat  Drink  Ap- 
parel Washing  and  Lodging  suitable  for  such  an  Ap- 


248  APPENDIX 

prentice  during  said  Term  And  at  the  Expiration 
thereof  to  give  unto  said  Apprentice  all  his  then  wearing 
Apparell  And  to  teach  said  Apprentice  to  read  write  and 
Cypher  as  far  as  the  Rule  of  Three  within  said  Term 
And  in  Consideration  of  the  s^.  Master  6^  Mistrcfs  find- 
ing for  s<^  Apprentice  his  Apparell  the  s'f  Nicholas  Eas- 
ton  hath  paid  unto  the  said  Benjamin  Hall  the  Sum  of 
four  hundred  Pounds  old  Tenor 

In  Testimony  whereof,  the  Parties  to  thefe  Prefents 
have  hereunto  interchangeably  fet  their  Hands  and 
Seals,  the  ni?ieteenth  Day  of  January  in  the  eighth 
Year  of  the  Reign  of  Our  Sovereign  Lord  George  the 
third  King  of  Great  Britain,  6-<r.  Annog  ;  Dom.  1768. 
Signed,  Sealed,  and  Delivered,       Benj'^^  in  haszard 

in  the  Prefence  of 

Richard  Thomas  (paper  torn)     Easton 

Lemuel  Baley 

X.     A  Lease  from  Stephen  Champlin  to  his 

Mother,  Signed  by  Both. 

{Manuscript,  College  Tarn's  hand) 

This  Indenture  made  the  fifth  day  of  February  in 
the  Twelfth  year  of  the  Reign  of  George  the  Third 
by  the  Grace  of  God  of  Great  Brittain  King  Anno<i 
Domini  One  Thousand  seven  hundred  &  Seventy 
Two  Between  Stephen  Champlin  of  South -Kings- 
town in  the  County  of  Kings  County,  in  the  Colony  of 
Rhode-Ifland,  &c.  of  the  One  part,  and  Mary  Champ- 
lin of  the  Town  County  &  Colony  aforesaid  Widow 
Woman  &  Relict  of  Stephen  Champlin  late  of  said 
Town  deceafed  of  the  other  part,  Witnesseth  That 
the  said  Stephen  Champlin  for  and  in  Confidera- 
tion  of  the  yearly  Rents  &  Covenants  hereinafter  re- 


APPENDIX  249 

served  to  be  done  paid  and  performed  by  the  said 
Mary  Champlin  her  Executors,  Administrators  or 
Afsigns,  Hath  Demifed,  Granted,  Sett,  and  to  farm 
Letten  And  by  thefe  presents,  Doth  Demife,  Grant, 
Sett,  and  to  farm  Lett  unto  the  said  Mary  Champlin 

All  that  great  Room  in  the  Southeaft  corner  of  the 
houfe  where  she  now  liveth  in  Point  Judith  in  said 
Town  which  is  Given  to  my  brother  Thomas  ChampUn 
in  ye  Will  of  our  Father  Late  DeceaP'^  and  also  the  the 
{sic)  Bedroom  (in  the  Northeast  corner  of  said  Houfe) 
&  the  bedroom  in  the  Chamber  over  the  same  with 
full  &  free  Liberty  to  Pafs  and  repafs  to  and  from  the 
same  either  in  her  Own  Perfon  or  Others  at  her  Plea- 
fure,  together  with  a  convenient  Place  at  the  Door  of 
s*^  Houfe  sufficient  for  Firewood  and  also  a  Priviledge 
in  the  Well  for  Water,  and  appurtenances  thereunto 
belonging  To  Have  and  To  Hold  the  said  three 
Rooms  in  the  said  Dwelling  Houfe  with  the  Rights 
and  Priviledges  herein  before  demifed  unto  the  said 
Mary  Champlin,  from  y^  Twenty  fifth  day  of  the  Third 
month  called  march  for  and  during  and  unto  the  full 
end  &  Term  of  Five  years  from  thence  next  enfuing 
and  fully  to  be  compleat  and  ended  (If  she  the  said 
Mary  Champlin  shall  so  Long  Live)  att  and  under  the 
Yearly  Rent  of  One  Pepper  Corn  to  be  paid  unto  the 
said  Stephen  Champlin  his  Heirs  and  Afsignes  always 
upon  the  Twenty  fifth  day  of  y«  third  month  in  every 
year  of  the  said  Term  And  it  is  Agreed  by  &  between 
the  the  {sic)  said  Parties,  that  in  Case,  the  said  Mary 
Champlin  shall  dye  before  the  Expiration  of  this 
Term,  Then  the  remainder  of  the  said  Term  shall  im- 
mediately Ceafe  &  Detirmine  And  the  said  Stephen 
Champlin  shall  immediately  enter  upon  the  said  De- 
mifed  Premifes  and  hold   the  same,  notwithftanding 


250  APPENDIX 

this  Prefent  Demife  and  Leafe  or  anything  therein 
Contained.  In  Witness  whereof  the  Parties  first 
first  above  named  to  thefe  Prefent 

have  sett  their  Hands  and  Seals  the  day  and  year 
above  Written 
Sign'd  Seal'<J  and  Deliver'^ 
In  Presence  of  us  Stephen  Champlin  (Seal.) 

Th°  Hazard  of  Rob'^.    Mary  Champlin       (Seal.) 

Robert  Hazard 

XI.    Manuscript  in  the  Hand  of  Thomas  Hazard 
Son  of  Robert. 

To  all  People  to  whom  these  Prefents  shall  come 
whereas  Stephen  Champlin  late  of  South  Kingftown 
in  the  County  of  Kings  County  &  Colony  of  Rhode 
Island  &c  Yeoman  deceafed  Did  in  &  by  his  Laft  Will 
and  Tellament  in  writing  bearing  date  the  Twenty 
firft  day  of  July  one  Thoufand  seven  hundred  Seventy 
and  one  1771  among  other  Gifts  and  Legacies  Be- 
queathed to  my  Brother  Robert  Champlin  his  Heirs 
and  Afsigns  for  ever  One  Certain  farm  or  Tract  of 
Land  lying  and  being  in  Point  Judith  in  ■s,^  Town 
Called  the  Potter  Farm  and  alfo  by  said  Will  Ordered 
my  said  Brother  Robert  Champlin  to  Pay  his  four  Sif- 
ters Four  Hundred  Dollars  each,  as  may  more  fully 
appear  by  said  Will,  Which  farm  is  Leafed  by  an  Oral 
Leafe  Two  Years  of  which  leafe  is  yet  to  come  from 
the  twenty  fifth  day  of  March  next  enfuing  the  date 
hereof  to  Samuel  Congdon  of  said  Town  &  Nicholas 
Gardner  of  exetor  son  of  George  Gardner  Now  Know 
Ye  that  I  Stephen  Champlin  son  and  Heir  at  Law  to 
said  deceafed  &  Executor  to  said  Will  as  alfo  men- 
tioned as  Refeduary  Legatee  therein  Yeoman  For  and 
in  Confideration  of  and  allowance  made  me  by  my 
Mother  Mary  Champlin  Widow  in  a  Leafe  bearing 


APPENDIX  251 

even  date  herewith  of  her  Right  of  Dower  &;  Power  of 
thirds  in  the  Farm  where  She  now  lives  in  Point 
Judith  in  said  Town  and  for  the  Love  Goodwill  & 
affection  which  I  have  and  Do  bear  towards  my  said 
Brother  Robert  Champlin  and  for  the  Better  enabling 
him  to  Pay  his  said  sifters  their  Several  Legacies 
bequeathed  as  aforefaid  and  for  Promoting  &  eftab- 
lifhing  a  lafting  Peace  unity  &  Harmony  throughout 
our  Whole  ffamily  Have  given,  granted,  releafed  and 
forever  Quitclaimed  and  by  thefe  Prefents  do  freely, 
fully,  and  abfolutely  give  grant,  releafe,  &  for  ever 
Quitclaim  unto  him  the  said  Robert  Champlin  his 
Heirs  and  Afsignes  for  ever  all  that  my  Right  Prop- 
erty Claim  &:  Demand  either  in  Law  or  Equity  in 
by  &  through  either  &  all  my  aforefaid  Capacities 
of  in  and  unto  the  Rents  &  Profits  that  shall  and 
may  arife  out  of  said  Leafed  Lands  during  the  Two 
years  as  aforefaid  To  Have  and  to  hold  the  same 
to  him  the  said  Robert  Champlin  his  Heirs  and 
afsignes  forever  so  that  neither  I  the  said  Stephen 
Champlin  nor  my  Heirs  or  any  other  Perfon  in  the 
name  Right  or  Stead  of  us  or  any  of  us  shall  hereafter 
have,  Claim  Challenge  or  demand  any  Right,  Eftate 
Title  Intereft  Property  or  Demand  of  in  or  to  the 
same.  But  from  all  and  every  action  &  Suit  brought 
or  to  be  brought  for  the  same  or  any  Part  thereof 
shall  &:  Will  be  foever  Excluded  &  Barred  by  these 
Prefents  In  witness  whereof  I  the  said  Stephen 
Champlin  have  hereunto  sett  my  Hand  and  seal  the 
fifth  day  of  February  one  Thousand  seven  hundred  & 
Seventy  Two, 
Signed  Sealed  &  Delivered  "1 

'^^'^T^Zt^li  Rob.       STKPHBK  CHAMPU.  ,S»„ 

Elizabeth  Hazard 


252  APPENDIX 

XII.     Letter  from   Matthew  Griswold  to  Gov- 
ernor Wanton. 

(  Written  on  two  sides  of  a  folio  sheet.) 

For 

The  Honourable 

Joseph  Wanton  Esq'' 
Att  Newport 

Gov  of  the  Colony  of 

Rhode  Island  &c  Lyme  June  :  i<)'^^  :  1773  — 

Thefe  — 

Sr 

Your  Favour  of  the  15'^  Ins*  is  come  to  hand : 
Shall  pay  all  due  attention  and  lay  it  before  the 
Judges  of  our  Sup''  Court  at  the  next  Interview  wee 
have. 

Tho,  am  not  able  to  say  that  as  a  Court  wee  can 
properly  Interpofe  in  the  Matters  you  Refer  to. 

The  People  Claim<^  as  Slaves  are  Esteem^^  with  us 
as  the  Proper  Objects  of  the  Care  and  Protection 
of  the  Government  in  Common  with  Other  Inhabi- 
tants. If  any  outrage  undue  Violence  or  Inhumane 
Severity  is  used  it  is  Esteem'^  the  Duty  of  the  Inform- 
ing &  Peace  officers  of  the  Colony  to  Interpofe  & 
give  Relief  upon  proper  Application  made  to  them. 

As  to  the  Matters  of  Slavery  our  Common  Law 
Courts  are  Open  and  wee  have  had  Sundry  Instances 
within  my  Observation  of  actions  bro*  wherein  the 
Points  in  Question  &  upon  which  the  Caufse  Turn<i 
was  whether  the  Perfon  Claim*!  as  a  Slave  was 
Legally  so  or  not.  Some  Obtain^^  others  Did  not 
According  to  the  Evidence  &  attending  Circum- 
ftances  of    Each   Individual   Cafe.     —  Our    People 


APPENDIX  253 

who  have  Demands  of  that  kind  Claim  it  as  a  Right 
to  have  a  Day  in  Court ;  a  fair  Chance  to  prove 
their  Special  Property  (if  any  they  have)  I  appre- 
hend Those  Trials  were  Estem^  open  &  fair  —  Yet  it 
seems  Thofe  Things  are  not  greatly  Favourf^  in  Law : 
by  People  of  Consideration  here  Inasmuch  as  the 
Negroes  who  have  been  Manumitted  in  this  Colony : 
being  Ignorant  of  the  Art  of  Honeft  living  have 
Frequently  become  Strowling  vagrants  have  United 
with  Thieves  &  Burglars  &  prov"^  very  Troublesome 
and  Dangerous  Inhabitants.  I  shc^  be  Concern^  that 
any  People  Sho^  be  opprefs<^  by  unlawful  holding  in 
Servitude.  Justice  ought  to  be  done  to  Every  one. 
If  any  material  of  Importance  Sho<^  further  Occur 
upon  further  Confideration  &  Consultation  Upon  this 
affair  Shall  give  Your  Hon""  the  trouble  of  Another 
Letter. 

I  am  with  Great  Esteem  &  Respect  Your  Hon" 
Moft  Obedient  Humble  Serv' 

Matth.^^  Griswold 


XIII.     Copy  of  a  Minute  from  Quarterly 
Meeting. 
{Maftuscripf.) 
We  desire  you  may  be  more  particular  and  explicit 
in  your  answers  for  the  future,  and  that  you  would 
remind  the  several  monthly  meetings  of   the  same, 
they  having  frequently  come  and   at  this  particular 
time  in  too  general  a  manner,  not  serving  to  give  so 
clear  and  perfect  an  account  of  your  State  as  the  Im- 
portance of  the  Cafe  requires.     We  desire  not  to  be 
too  Cenforious,   whether  Indifferancy  in  the  Cafe  or 
an  unwillingnefs  to  exprefs  the  weaknefs  failings  and 


254  APPENDIX 

Imperfections  of  your  State  or  whatever  may  be  the 
Caufe  thereof  we  know  not.  But  we  befeech  you  that 
in  anfwering  the  Queries  you  give  the  utmost  Care  to 
render  the  same  in  as  plain  full  and  Concise  terms  as 
may  be. 

Daniel  Underwood. 

(Reverse  Side) 
Meets  for  Sufferings  adjourned   untill  the  Second 
Second  day  of  the  8^^  month  1775. 
Moses  farnum  Nathan  Davis 

Moses  Brown  Jacob  Mot  Jr. 

Jeremiah  Hacker  Thomas  Stear 

Joseph  Mitchel  John  Collins 

Thomas  Hassard  Theophilius  Shove  Jun 

IsACK  Lawten  Samuel  Gold 

Thoms  Lapham  Jr  Joshua  Devol 

George  arnal  Philip  Wanton 

Jeremiah  asten  Joseph  Southwick 

John  Rogers  Eben  Chace 

Benjamin  arnal  David  bufam 

Jonathan  Macy  John  Casse 

Barzilla  Tucker  Caleb  Rusel. 


XIV.     Copy  of  a  Minute   of   the   Meeting  for 

Sufferings  held  at  Providence  y^   13TH  8™ 

Mo  1776. 

This  Meeting  again  taking  under  Consideration   a 

Certain   Act   of  the  General  Assembly  lately  passed 

called  the  Test  Act,  and  also  an  Act  passed  in  the 

7th   M°   last   (so   far  as   they  relate   particularly  to 

Friends)  wherein    it   is   provided   that  if   any  Friend 

bring   a   Certificate  from   the  Clerk   of  the   Monthly 


APPENDIX  255 

Meeting  to  which  he  belongs  that  he  is  in  Unity  such 
Friend  shall  be  excused  from  certain  requisitions  & 
exempted  from  the  penalties  mentioned  in  said  Acts. 
It  is  the  conclusion  of  this  Meeting  that  it  may  be 
safe  for  any  Monthly  Meeting  to  grant  Certificates  to 
any  Member  applying  for  the  same,  for  the  purpose 
afores"i  after  the  necessary  inquiry  made  &  due  regard 
had  in  said  Certificate  to  the  State  &  standing  of  said 
Member ;  Nevertheless  it  is  earnestly  recommended 
to  all  such  applying  Members  to  enter  deeply  into 
themselves  &  not  implicitly  follow  the  sentiments  of 
others  but  see  that  their  proceedings  therein  are  in 
the  liberty  of  the  Truth,  &  the  Clerk  is  desired  to 
send  a  Copy  of  this  Minute  to  the  Monthly  Meeting 
of  Rhode  Island  &  other  Monthly  Meetings  as  occa- 
sion may  require. 

XV.  Release  of  Guardianship. 
{Manuscript) 
Know  all  Men  hereby,  That  I  Robert  Hazard  of 
South  Kingston  in  the  County  of  King's  County, 
Yeoman  (Son  of  Richard  Hazard)  Have  and  do 
hereby  for  and  in  Confideration  of  the  Sum  of  One 
hundred  &  forty  five  pounds  six  shillings  &  eight 
pence  half  penny  lawful  money  wh  I  have  this  day 
rec^  of  Thomas  Hazard  of  s^  South  Kingston,  the 
receipt  of  wh  I  do  hereby  acknowledge,  difcharge  & 
releafe  the  said  Thomas  Hazard  from  all  and  every 
demand  of  any  nature  kind  or  quality  whatever  wh  I 
have  against  him,  as  well  for  the  time  during  wh  he 
was  my  Guardian,  &  rec^  the  profits  of  my  Estate  as 
all  other  demands  wh  I  have  againft  him,  (not  mean- 
ing hereby  to  difcharge  my  former  Guardian  Enoch 


256  APPENDIX 

Hazard  for  any  demands  I  have  againft  him)  In  Wit- 
nefs  wherof  I  have  hereto  set  my  hand  this  twent}'-six 
day  of  April  A.  D.  1776. 

Robert  Hazard  Son  of  Richard. 
Witness.  — 

F.  J.  Helme. 


XVI.     Constitution  of  the   Providence  Society 
FOR  Abolishing  the  Slave-trade. 

{Printed  on  one  sheet.  No  date.) 
It  having  pleafed  the  Creator  of  mankind  to  make 
of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men,  and  having,  by  the 
diffufion  of  his  light,  manifefted  that,  however  diverfi- 
fied  by  colour,  fituation,  religion,  or  different  ftates  of 
fociety,  it  becomes  them  to  confult  and  promote  each 
others  happinefs,  as  members  of  one  great  family  :  It 
is  therefore  the  duty  of  thofe  who  profefs  to  maintain 
their  own  rights,  and  efpecially  thofe  who  acknow- 
ledge the  obligations  of  Chriftianity,  to  extend,  by  the 
ufe  of  fuch  means  as  are  or  may  be  in  their  power,  the 
bleflings  of  freedom  to  the  whole  human  race ;  and  in 
a  more  particular  manner  to  fuch  of  their  fellow-crea- 
tures as  by  the  laws  and  conftitution  of  the  United 
States  are  entitled  to  their  freedom,  and  who  by  fraud 
or  violence  are  or  may  be  detained  in  bondage.  And 
as,  by  the  African  flave-trade,  a  fyftem  of  flavery,  re- 
plete with  human  mifery  is  erected  and  carried  on,  it 
is  incumbent  on  them  to  endeavour  the  fupprelTion  of 
that  unrighteous  commerce ;  to  excite  a  due  obfer- 
vance  of  fuch  good  and  wholefome  laws  as  are  or  may 
be  enacted  for  the  abolition  of  flavery,  and  for  the 
fupport  of  the  rights  of  thofe  who  are  entitled  to  free- 
dom by  the  laws  of  the  country  in  which  they  live ; 


APPENDIX  257 

and  to  afford  fuch  relief  as  we  may  be  enabled  to 
thofe  unhappy  fellow-citizens,  who,  like  the  fons  of 
Africa,  falling  into  the  hands  of  unmerciful  men,  may 
be  carried  into  llavery  at  Algiers  or  elfewhere. 

From  a  conviction  of  thefe  truths,  and  the  obliga- 
tion of  thefe  principles,  and  from  a  defire  to  diffufe 
them  wherever  the  vices  and  miferies  of  flavery  exifl, 
and  in  humble  reliance  on  the  favour  and  fupport  of 
the  Father  of  mankind,  the  fubfcribers  have  formed 
themfelves  into  a  Society  under  the  title  of  The  Frovi- 

detice   Society  for  aboliJJiing  the   Slave-Trade. For 

affecting  thefe  purpofes  they  have  adopted  the  follow- 
ing rules  : 

iff.  The  Society  fhall  elect,  by  a  majority  of  votes 
to  be  taken  by  ballot,  a  Prefident,  a  Vice-Prefident, 
one  or  more  Counfellors,  a  Secretary,  and  a  Treas- 
urer, who  fhall  refpectively  continue  in  office  for  one 
year  from  the  time  of  their  election,  and  at  the  expira- 
tion of  every  year  fucceeding,  there  (hall  be  a  new 
election  of  officers  in  the  fame  manner. 

2d.  The  Prefident  fhall  have  authority  to  maintain 
order  and  decorum  at  the  meeting  of  the  Society,  and 
to  call  a  fpecial  meeting  at  any  time,  with  the  advice 
of  three  of  the  Standing  Committee  herein  after 
named. 

3d.  The  Vice-Prefident,  in  the  abfence  of  the  Prefi- 
dent, fhall  have  the  fame  authority  as  the  Prefident : 
and  in  cafe  the  Prefident  fhall  die  or  be  difplaced,  the 
Vice-Prefident  fliall  officiate  until  a  new  Prefident  be 
chofen. 

4th.  The  Secretary  fhall  keep  a  record  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Society,  in  a  book  to  be  provided  for 
that  purpofe,  and  fhall  caufe  to  be  publifhed,  from 
time  to  time,  fuch  part  of  the  proceedings,  or  refolu- 


258  APPENDIX 

tions,  as  the  Society  may  order,  or  the  Prefident  with 
the  Standing  Committee  between  the  meetings  of  the 
Society  may  think  proper  to  direct. 

5th,  The  Treafurer,  if  required  by  the  Society,  fhall 
give  fecurity  for  the  faithful  difcharge  of  the  truft  re- 
posed in  him,  and  Ihall  keep  regular  accounts  of  the 
monies  received  and  paid,  obferving  always  to  pay  no 
money  Avithout  an  order  figned  by  the  Prefident,  or  a 
majority  of  a  quorum  of  the  Standing  Committee,  who 
are  prohibited  from  drawing,  between  the  ftated  meet- 
ings of  the  Society,  for  a  larger  fum  than  ten  pounds, 
unlefs  efpecially  empowered  by  the  Society  at  a  previ- 
ous meeting. 

6th.  If  any  of  the  officers  above  named  fhall  refign 
or  be  difplaced,  the  Society  fhall  fill  the  vacancy  in 
the  mode  prefcribed  by  the  firfl  article ;  and  if  the 
Prefident  and  Vice  Prefident,  or  Secretary,  or  Treas- 
urer, be  abfent  at  any  of  the  meetings,  the  Society 
may  elect  one  to  officiate  pro  tctnpore. 

7th.  The  Society  Ihall  meet  once  in  every  quarter, 
that  is  to  fay,  on  the  3d.  fixth  day  in  the  2d,  5th,  8th, 
and  nth  months  in  every  year,  at  fuch  place  as  fhall 
from  time  to  time  be  agreed  upon,  in  order  to  receive 
the  reports  of  the  Standing  Committee,  and  devife  the 
ways  and  means  of  accomplifhing  the  objects  of  this 
inflitution. 

8th.  That  nine  members,  with  a  Prefident  or  Vice- 
Prefident,  conftitutionally  affembled,  be  a  quorum  of 
the  Society  for  tranfacting  bufinefs. 

9th.  Every  member  after  fubfcribing  thefe  rules  fliall 
pay  into  the  hands  of  the  Treafurer  two-thirds  of  a 
dollar,  and  at  the  commencement  of  every  quarter 
one-fixth  of  a  dollar ;  and  all  donations  to  the  Society 
Ihall  be  made  through  the  Prefident,  who  (hall  pay 


APPENDIX  259 

them  to  the  Treafurer,  and  report  them  to  the  Society 
at  the  next  quarterly-meeting. 

loth.  Any  citizen  of  the  United  States,  who  (hall 
be  recommended  by  two-thirds  of  the  Standing  Com- 
mittee to  a  quarterly-meeting,  fhall  be  balloted  for, 
and  if  approved  by  two-thirds  of  the  members  prefent, 
he  fliall  be  declared  a  member.  The  Committee  of 
feven  fhall  have  Authority  to  receive  fuch  members  as 
may  offer  and  fubfcribe  before  the  next  quarterly- 
meeting,  this  rule  notwithftanding. 

nth.  Two  thirds  of  the  members  prefent  at  a  quar- 
terly meeting  fhall  have  power  to  expel  any  perfon 
whom  they  may  deem  unworthy  of  remaining  a  mem- 
ber, and  no  perfon  fhall  be  a  member  who  holds  a 
flave,  or  is  concerned  in  the  flave-trade. 

1 2th.  It  fhall  be  the  bufmefs  of  the  Counfellors  to 
explain  the  laws  and  conftitution  of  the  States,  which 
relate  to  the  emancipation  of  flaves,  and  to  the  flave- 
trade.  And,  when  it  becomes  neceffary,  to  urge  the 
due  execution  thereof,  and  their  claims  to  freedom, 
before  fuch  perfons  or  Courts  as  are  or  may  be  author- 
ized to  decide  on  the  fame. 

13th.  A  Standing  Committee  of  feven  members 
fhall  be  appointed  to  tranfact  the  bufmefs  in  general, 
four  of  whom  are  empowered  to  act ;  whofe  duty  it 
fhall  be  to  take  the  moft  effectual  meafures  to  accom- 
plifh  the  objects  of  this  inftitution  agreeable  to  the 
direction  and  at  the  expence  of  the  Society,  and  to 
report  a  particular  account  of  their  proceedings  at  the 
next  quarterly-meeting,  at  which  time  two  of  their 
number  fhall  be  releafed  from  the  fervice  in  the  order 
their  names  fland  on  the  minutes,  and  the  vacancy 
filled  up  by  the  fame  or  two  others  appointed  in  their 
room,  and  in  like  manner  a  difmiffion  and  appoint- 


26o  APPENDIX 

ment  of  two  fliall  take  place  at  each  fucceeding  quar- 
terly-meeting. 

14th.  The  foregoing  Rules  fhall  be  in  force  without 
alteration  fix  months,  after  which  period  they  fhall  be 
subject  to  fuch  alterations  as  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers prefent,  at  a  quarterly-meeting,  Ihall  agree  upon. 


XVII.     Will  of  Thomas  Hazard  Son  of  Robert. 

{Written  in  Ms  own  hand  on  two  sides  of  a  large  quarto 
sheet  of  paper) 

Be  it  Remembred  this  Nineteenth  day  of  the 
Twelfth  Month  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord  one  Thousand 
Seven  Hundred  and  Ninety  Three  that  I  Thomas 
Hazard  of  South  Kingstown  in  the  County  of  Wash- 
ington and  State  of  Rhode  Island  &c.  Yeoman  being 
of  a  Sound  disposing  mind  and  memory  and  in  a 
pretty  good  State  of  health  for  which  and  all  Other 
favours  I  desire  to  be  very  thankfull,  and  calling  to 
mind  the  mortality  of  my  body  and  knowing  that  it  is 
Appointed  once  for  man  to  die  do  in  the  fear  of  God 
make  and  Ordain  this  to  be  my  Last  Will  and  Testa- 
ment that  is  to  say  first  I  will  that  all  those  Debts  I 
do  owe  in  Right  to  any  persons  with  my  funeral 
charges  be  well  and  truly  content  and  paid  in  a  con- 
venient time  after  my  deceafe  by  my  Executrix  here- 
after Named  out  of  my  personal  Estate  and  as  touch- 
ing Such  Worldly  Estate  as  it  hath  pleased  God  to 
blefs  me  with  in  this  life  I  give  and  Dispose  of  the 
Same  manner  and  form  following. 

Imprimus  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  beloved  Wife 
Elizabeth  Hazard  the  use  and  improvment  of  the 
west  end  of  my  dwelling  Houfe  that  is  to  say  Two 
Rooms  above  Stairs  and  the  two  rooms  under  them 


APPENDIX  261 

and  previledge  to  get  Water  out  of  the  Well  So  long  as 
She  Shall  Remain  my  Widow,  I  also  give  to  her  Two 
Cows  and  my  great  Bay  mare  so  Called,  and  my  Chafe 
with  the  previledge  of  its  Standing  in  the  Chafe  House 
I  alfo  give  her  the  keeping  of  the  two  Cows  &  horfe 
or  great  bay  Mare  to  go  in  the  Chafe  during  the  time 
She  Remains  my  Widow  I  also  give  her  my  House 
hold  furniture  Except  what  I  Shall  otherwife  mention 
and  give  away  in  this  Will,  I  also  give  her  my  Silver 
Watch  and  the  keeping  of  the  three  creatures  the  mare 
to  be  kept  in  the  Stable  in  the  Winter  Seafon  &  the 
Cows  to  be  kept  well  to  hay,  I  alfo  give  to  my  said 
Wife  One  Hundred  pounds  Lawful  money  to  be  raised 
out  of  my  perfonal  Estate  by  my  Executrix  hereafter 
Named,  all  which  gifts  and  Legacies  to  her  are  in  Lieu 
of  her  Right  of  Dower  and  power  of  thirds  of  in  and 
unto  my  Estate. 

Item  I  give  and  Bequeath  to  my  Beloved  Son  Rob- 
ert Hazard  and  to  his  Heirs  and  Afsigns  forever  all 
that  part  of  my  homestead  farm  in  South  Kingstown 
which  lyeth  to  the  Eastward  of  the  Country  Rhode 
Containing  about  One  Hundred  and  fifty  Acres  more 
or  lefs  together  with  my  Rights  on  a  Sedge  Island  so 
called  said  Lands  being  Bounded  Westerly  on  the 
Country  Rhode  Northerly  partly  on  Elisha  Watfons 
Land  and  partly  on  Job  Watfons  Land.  Easterly 
partly  on  Pettyquamscet  River  including  my  rights  on 
a  Sedge  Island  &:  partly  on  a  Cove  Southerly  on  Wal- 
ter Watfons  Land,  I  alfo  give  him  one  feather  bed  and 
furniture  with  all  my  Notes  I  have  against  him,  and 
my  Will  is  that  he  shall  keep  the  Creatures  as  given 
to  his  Mother  and  Allow  her  the  previledges  as  afore- 
said out  of  what  I  have  given  him. 

Item   I  give  and   Bequeath   to   my  beloved   Son 


262  APPENDIX 

Thomas  Hazard  the  Note  I  hold  against  him  for  five 
Hundred  and  Thirty  Eight  pounds,  and  one  feather 
bed  and  furniture. 

Item  I  give  and  Bequeath  to  my  beloved  Son  Row- 
land Hazard  and  to  his  Heirs  and  Afsigns  forever  all 
my  Lands  lying  in  South  Kingstown  above  the  Coun- 
try Rhode  or  to  the  Westward  of  said  Rhode  Contain- 
ing about  One  hundred  and  fifty  Acres  more  or  Lefs 
With  the  Buildings  thereon  Standing  the  Same  being 
Bounded  Easterly  on  the  Country  Rhode  Southerly 
partly  on  land  lately  belonging  to  John  Case  Deceased 
and  partly  on  Jeremiah  Niles's  land  Westerly  on  said 
NiLes's  Land  Northerly  partly  on  said  Rowland  Haz- 
ards Land  and  partly  on  Job  Watfons  Land  I  alfo  give 
to  my  Son  Rowland  Hazard  Two  feather  beds  and 
furniture  and  all  my  Notes  against  him. 

And  all  the  Remainder  of  my  Lands  and  Real  Estate 
where  ever  the  Same  may  be  I  give  to  my  Said  Three 
Sons  and  to  Their  Heirs  and  Afsigns  forever  to  be 
equally  Divided  among  them  I  alfo  give  to  my  said 
three  Sons  Each  of  them   Two  Silver  Table  Spoons. 

And  all  the  Remainder  of  my  personal  Estate  I  give 
to  my  aforesaid  Wife  and  Three  Sons  to  be  Equally 
Divided  among  them. 

And  Lastly  I  hereby  Nominate  and  appoint  my  Be- 
loved Wife  Elizabeth  Hazard  to  be  my  whole  and  Sole 
Executrix  of  this  my  Last  Will  and  Testament  Ratti- 
fying  and  Confirming  this  only  to  be  my  Last  Will 
and  Testament  hereby  Revoking  and  disannulling  all 
former  Wills  &  Executors  by  me  heretofore  made  In 
Witness  and  Confirmation  Whereof  I  have  hereunto 
Set  my  hand  and  Seal  the  day  month  and  Year  first 
Within  Written. 

THOMAS   HAZARD. 


APPENDIX  263 

Signed  Sealed  published  pronounced  and  Declared 
by  Thomas  Hazard  the  Testator  be  be  {sic)  his  Last 
Will  and  Testament  in  the  prefence  of  us  as  Wit- 
nefses. 

Andrew  Nichols 

Robert  Knowles.  fon  of  Joseph 

Andrew  Nichols  Jun"". 

Be  it  Remembered  that  at  a  Town  Council  held  in 
South  Kingston  the  lo'l"  September  A  D  1798.  Person- 
ally came  Messrs  Andrew  Nichols  &  Andrew  Nichols 
Jun"".  and  on  their  Solemn  Affirmation  declare  &  say 
that  they  Signed  their  Names  as  Witnefses  to  the  pre- 
ceeding  last  Will  &  Testament  of  M""  Thomas  Hazard 
Dec"^.  together  with  M"^  Robert  Knowles  and  the  Tes- 
tator Signed  his  Name  in  their  presence  &  they  Signed 
as  Witnefses  in  his  presence  &  in  presence  of  each 
other  at  the  same  time,  and  that  said  Testator  was 
then  in  his  perfect  mind  and  Memory.  Whereupon 
said  last  Will  and  Testament  being  thus  proved  it  is 
approved  of  as  and  to  be  the  last  Will  and  Testament 
of  said  Testator. 

Signed  by  Order  of  said  Town  Council 

James  Helme  Council  Clerk 

Recorded  the  foregoing  in  the  Council  Book  N°.  6 
belonging  to  South  Kingston  Pages  416.  417  and  418. 
Sep--.  18.  1798. 

James  Helme,  C.  C'^'^ 
50  Cents.  —  T.  Hazards  Will 


264 


APPENDIX 


XVIII.'    Rhode  Island  Currency. 

Quotations  from  the  letter  of  Governor  Richard 
Ward  to  the  Enghsh  Board  of  Trade,  January  9,  1740, 
showing  the  value  of  different  issues  of  paper  money 
in  silver.^ 


Year  17 10  (First  Issue) 

"  17 1 5  First  Bank 

"  172 1  Second  Bank 

"  1728  Third  Bank 

"  1 73 1  Fourth  Bank 

"  1733  Fifth  Bank 

"  1738  Sixth  Bank 

"  1740  Seventh  Bank 


one  ounce 
of  silver 
equalled 


8  Shillings  in  bills. 

12 

16 

18 

22 

25 
27 
27 


Old  Tenor  Bills. 

Table  fixing  the  value  of  old  tenor  bills  at  different 
periods,  for  the  use  of  the  courts,  made  by  the  General 
Assembly  June,  1763.^ 


SPANISH    MILLED   DOLLARS. 


£  s.   d. 

1751  I 

Spanish 

M 

illed  Dollar  equal  to 

2  16  GO 

1752  " 

" 

((    (f 

(C     (( 

3  CO  00 

1753  " 

" 

<(         C( 

(   i( 

3  10  00 

1754  " 

" 

((        u 

(   (( 

3  IS  00 

1755  " 

(( 

U        (( 

(   (( 

4  5  00 

1756  " 

(C 

((      « 

(   (( 

5  5  00 

1757  " 

(( 

«      <( 

<   <( 

5  15  00 

1758 " 

(( 

((      (( 

(   (( 

6  00  00 

1759  " 

(( 

«      (( 

<    u 

6  00  00 

1  S.  S.  Rider,  R.  I.  Historical  Tracts,  No.  8,  p.  55. 

2  R,  I.  Colonial  Records,  vol.  vi.  p.  361. 


APPENDIX 


265 


1760 
1761 
1762 
1763 


Spanish  Milled  Dollar  equal  to 


£  s.   d. 
6  00  00 

6  10  00 

7  00  00 
7  00  00 


Scale  of  Depreciation  of  Continental  Bills  of  Credit} 


A.  D. 

1777  January  i. 
"     July 

1778  January. . 

"    July 

1779  January.  . 
"     July 

1780  January.  . . 

"     April 

"     August  15, 

1 78 1  February. . 
"  May  15... 
"     May  30... 


SPANISH 
MILLED  DOLLARS. 

.  .100  equal  to. 


DOLLARS  PAPER 
CURRENCY. 

...  125 

■  •  •  325 

•  •  425 

.  .  742 

.  .  1477 

.  .  2934 

,  .  .  4000 

.  .  .  7000 

.  .  7500 

.  .  8000 

.  .  16000 


1  Condensed  from  tables  in  R.  I.  Colonial  Records,  vol.  ix.  pp. 
282  and  424. 


266  APPENDIX 

SUNDRY  PRICES   AND  VARIOUS  ENTRIES 

TAKEN  FROM  THE  ACCOUNT  BOOK  OF  THOMAS  HAZARD 
SON  OF  ROBERT,  DURING  THE  YEARS  1750  TO  1 784 
INCLUSIVE. 

£    s.   d. 

Oats  per  bushel  (March) 12  oo 

Oats  per  bushel  (May) 15  00 

Potatoes  per  bushel 10  00 

Butter 5     6 

Hay  half  a  load 10  00  00 

Fatt  Goose  per  pound i     6 

Wool  per  pound 8  00 

Tea  per  pound 3     4  00 

I  yoke  of  oxen 140  00  00 

I  horse 50  00  00 

Veal  per  pound  - i     6 

Mutton  hind  quarter  per  pound 2  00 

Lamb  per  pound 2  00 

White  Flannel  per  yard 15  00 

Striped     "          "       "    i6  00 

Felt  Hatt i  00  00 

\  of  an  hundred  of  Sugar 65  00 

Sugar  per  pound 4     9 

Handkerchief 14  00 

Callaminco  per  yard 18  00 

Indigo 7     4  00 

Flax  Seed  per  bushel 2  00  00 

Mr  Jos'?  Torrey  Dr 
To  my  Plow  oxen  &  Two  hands  \  day  to 

Plow 2  00  00 


APPENDIX  267 

£  s.  d. 
To  Carting  of  Hedgewood  \  day  2  hands 

cart  &  4  oxen i   i  o  00 

To  my  Cart  &  oxen  going  up  to  George 

Gardners  Mill  for  Boards 2  00  00 

To  the  Hire  of  my  mare  for  his  son  to  ride 

to  Brandford  in  Connecticut 2  00  00 

1751- 

Corn  per  bushel 25  00 

Potatoes,  per  bushel 15  00 

One  3-year-old  horse 105  00  00 

Veal  per  pound i     6 

Land  let  per  acre 13     6 

Calf  skin 25  00 

Tow  per  pound 3     6 

Fatt  Goose  per  pound i     6 

Butter  per  pound 7  00 

Lining  Cloth  per  yard 4     4 

Richard  Hazard  D^ 

To  6  yards  of  Devonshire  Cersy  at 6  00  00 

"  \  yd  of  Shalloon  at 24  00 

"  \  yd  of  Fufton  at 34  00 

"  \  yd  of  ozenbridgs  at 12  00 

"  \  yd  Cotton  Velvit  at 7  00  00 

"  4  yards  of  Tape  at 06 

"  Two  dozen  of  Buttons  at 10  00 

"  2  Sticks  of  Twift  at 5  00 

"  \  oz  of  Silk  at 40  00 

"  I  Yoke  of  oxen  Fatt 120  00  00 

"  Sheep  Fatt  each 2  00  00 

**  Hides  and  Tallow  (per  pound) i     6 


268  APPENDIX 

£    s.   d. 

To  Weaving  Duroy  per  yard 5  oo 

"       "     Blanketing  "      "     5  oo 

"       "     Flannel        "      *'     3  oo 

"       "    Tow  Cloth  "      "    3  oo 

1752- 

Corn  per  bushel 25  00 

Potatoes  per  bushel 20  00 

Butter  per  pound 7  00 

Milk  per  quart i  00 

Cheese  per  pound 3  00 

Meal  per  pound i  00 

Hoggs  per  pound i     6 

Wool  per  pound 8  00 

Leather  for  double  soled  shoes 3  10  00 

Linen  handkerchiefs 22  00 

Stockings 35  00 

Day's  work  of  Robin 15  00 

Pickle  pork  per  pound 3  00 

Beef              "          "    I  10 

1753. 

Potatoes  per  bushel 20  00 

I  Milch  Cow  and  Calf 60  00  00 

Cheese  per  pound 3  00 

Tea  per  pound 62  00 

Nutmeg  per  ounce 12  00 

Pepper  per  ounce . , 12  00 

Cinnamon     "     5  00 

3-year-old  horse 150  00  00 

Sheep  skins  each 5  00 

One  yoke  of  oxen 160  00  00 


APPENDIX  269 

£    s.    d. 

Handkerchief 22  00 

Weaving  Linen  per  yd 7  00 

"        Tow 4  00 

"        Ticking 7  00 

Pork  per  pound 2     6 

Milk  per  quart i     6 

A  Man's  Saddle 33  00  00 

Hay  per  Hundred  weight 20  00 

Carting  wood  per  load 20  00 

One  Live  Goofe 16  00 

Wine  per  gallon 40  00 

Rum        "         44  00 

Loaf  Sugar  per  pound 12  00 

\  hundred  of  Sugar 18  00  00 

Currants  per  pound 8  00 

Raiso7is 8  00 

1754- 

Apples  per  bushel 12  00 

Veal  per  pound i     6 

Wood  per  cord  standing 5°  00 

Dressing  Boots 12  00 

Milk  per  quart i  00 

Handkerchief 22  00 

Hind  quarter  of  lamb  per  pound 2  00 

I  three-year-old  bay  Mare  with  white  nose  70  00  00 

Load  of  Mash  Hay 10  00  00 

One  old  Brass  Kettle  W'  14'^  \  per  pound  8  00 

Butter  per  pound 7  00 

Sheep  per  head 3  10  00 

Chodat  per  pound 1 4  00 


270  APPENDIX 

1755- 

I    s.     d. 

Corn  per  bushel 30  oo 

35  00 

Potatoes  per  bushel 18  00 

One  brown  Steer  Calf 8  00  00 

One  Yearling  Bull 14  00  00 

Cheese  skim  milk  per  pound i     6 

"         New  milk           "          3  00 

Oats  per  bushel 16  00 

I  old  black  Troting  mare 55  00  00 

Load  of  hay 20  00  00 

I  yoke  of  oxen 130  00  00 

Weaving  Surge  Worsted  per  yard 6  00 

*'         Worsted 5  00 

"         Tow  Cloth  per  yard 4  00 

"         Half  Duroy  per  yard 6  00 

"         Linnen  per  yard 5  00 

"         plain  Cotton  and  Linnen S  00 

Striped       "               "         56 

"         Flannel  plain 3     6 

"       Striped 4  00 

Spinning  (Amy  Shearman)  a  day 20  00 

Hay  making  a  day   20  00 

White  washing  "    23  00 

Flask  of  oil 26  00 

Nutmeg  per  ounce 28  00 

Veal  per  pound 2  00 

Pillion 6  00  00 

Bridle 5°  00 

Stirrup  Leathers i  04  00 

Sheep  per  head 3  10  00 

Cotton  wool  per  pound 22  00 

Indigo  per  ounce 13  00 


APPENDIX  271 

L    s.    d. 

Wool  per  pound 9  00 

Milk  per  quart 2  00 

Days  work 30  00 

1756. 

Corn  per  bushel 30  00 

Corn  per  bushel  5*  mo 35  00 

"           "             6th  mo 40  00 

Oats         "                15  00 

"           "            3''^  mo 20  00 

Milk  per  quart i     6 

"           "         4th  mo 2  GO 

Stockings 36  00 

Thread  per  skien i     3 

Making  shirts,  each 25  00 

Shoe  buckles i     5  00 

Man's  work  per  day 12  00 

Wool  per  pound 12  00 

Day's  work  (Indian  James  Daniel) 30  00 

Making  shoes 16  00 

Pair  of  shoes i    10  00 

Leather  enough  for  a  large  pair  of  Double 

Sole  Shoes 3  00  00 

One  pair  of  Breetches 50  00 

Chex  per  yard 26  02 

Veal  per  pound 2  00 

Lamb          "       2     6 

Tallow         "        8  GO 

Making  Heels  for  Womens  shoes 4  go 

Tea  per  pound 3  00  gg 

Cheese  per  pound 5  gg 

Women's  Work  per  week 20  go 

Flax  per  pound 6     6 


2/2  APPENDIX 

£    X.    d. 
Hatcheled  Flax  per  pound  (Sarah  Pew, 

Spinster) lo  oo 

Women's  shoes 2   15  00 

Wool  per  pound 12  00 

Carting  a  load  of  wood 30  00 

1757. 

Corn  per  bushel  3rd  mo 40  00 

"             "          5th  mo 50  00 

"             "          6th  mo 60  00 

"            "          9th  mo 55  00 

Oats  per  bushel   20  00 

"             "         12th  mo 25  00 

Sow  and  pigs   25  00  00 

Beef  hides  per  pound 5  00 

Women's  household  work  per  week 25  00 

Pair  of  shoes 6  00  00 

Tallow  per  pound 9  00 

Veal        "         "     3  00 

Women's  work  per  week 25  00 

Calves  per  head 7  10  00 

Pork  per  pound 7  00 

Young  Cows  (good  beef) 80  00  00 

Salt  per  bushel 20  00 

Cheese  per  pound 5     6 

Butter  per  pound 15  00 

Milk  per  quart 2  00 

Edmons  Ointment 20  00 

Candle  wick  per  pound 16  00 

Stockings  per  pair 5°  00 

Ell  wide  Bearskin  full  Cloth  per  yard  ....  7   10  00 

Kersey  Cloth  "  per  yard 6  00  00 

Worsted  Drugget 3  00  00 


APPENDIX  273 

£    s.    d. 

Trimming  for  a  coat 519     9 

Making  a  jacket 55  00 

1758. 

Com  per  bushel  6th  mo 50  00 

"          "           10  mo 55  00 

Oats  per  bushel 25  00 

Turnips  per  bushel 30  00 

Side  of  veal  42  lbs 6     6  00 

Tanning  per  pound 5  00 

Hay  per  hundred  weight 45  00 

Making  a  pair  of  shoes 30  co 

Women's  work  per  week 25  00 

Shoe  buckles 20  00 

Cersey  Cloth  per  yard 6  00  00 

£2\     I  ox.  Lawful    Money  turned  in   old 

Tenor  @  ;^5  ioj.  the  dollar. 
£1  \os.  old  Tenor  equals  \\s.  6d.  Lawful 

Money. 

1759- 

Corn  per  bushel 60  00 

Rye  per  bushel 60  00 

Potatoes       "       30  00 

Turnips        "       25  00 

Apples  per  bushel 30  00 

"              "            10  mo 25  00 

Wool  per  pound 25  00 

Butter  per  pound 7  00 

Mowing  a  day   3  00  00 

Farm  labor i  00  00 

Then  agreed  with  William  Wallsworth  to 

work  with   me  six  months  if  I  like  to 


274  APPENDIX 

£ 
hire  him  after  one  month  for  ;^i2  Law- 
ful money.     But  if  I  should  not  like  to 
hire  him  after  one  month  is  expired  then 
I  am  to  give  him  for  said  one  month 
Thirty  shillings  Lawfull  money  it  being 
Connecticut  Prock  so  called  no  interest 
to  be  reckoned  thereon. 
2    Spanish    Mill'J     dollars  in  old    Tenor     12 
5   Shillings  Lawful  Money  in    old  Tenor       4 

Veal  per  pound 

Sole  leather  for  a  pair  of  shoes 

One  calve  skin 4 

One  i^a//  Sheep 12 

Hay  per  hundred  weight 

Veal  per  pound 

Mutton    "         

Women's  work  per  week  (Sarah  Pugh)  .  . 

Chex  per  yard 3 

Flannel       "       

Crocus      per  yard 

White  flannel     "   6 

One  Comb 

1760. 

Apples  per  bushel 

Turnips  per  bushel 

Butter  per  pound 

"  "          6th  mo 

Mutton  per  pound 

Cheese  per  pound 

One  Fatt  Sheep 12 

Spinning  Worsted  per  skien 

Man's  Saddle 45 


00 

00 

II 

10 

5 

00 

35 

00 

00 

00 

CO 

00 

50 

00 

6 

00 

6 

00 

25 

00 

00 

00 

40 

00 

20 

GO 

00 

00 

2 

00 

40 

00 

30 

00 

16 

GO 

15 

00 

6 

00 

8 

00 

00 

00 

6 

00 

00 

00 

APPENDIX  275 

£    s.    d. 
Carting  one  load  of  goods  to  Franklin's 

Ferry 10  00  00 

Eggs  per  dozen 7  00 

Hog's  Fatt  in  a  Tub  per  pound 12  00 

Lamb  per  pound 6  00 

Mutton        "          6  00 

Molasses  per  gallon 3  00  00 

Cheese  per  pound 8  00 

Fat  Sheep  per  head 12  00  00 

Veal  per  pound 5     6 

I  Load  of  good  Hay  for  13  days'  mowing 

1761. 

Corn  per  bushel 

Oats         "  

Pork  per  pound 

Pork  pickled  per  pound 

Sole  leather  for  shoes i 

Thread  per  skein 

Wool  per  pound 

I  horse  whip 6 

I  doz.  buttons 

Hay  per  hundred  weight 4 

Half  a  day's  Carting 5 

Herds  grass  seed  per  pound 

Butter  per  pound 

Tow  Cloth  per  yard 

Pins  per  ounce 

One  pair  of  Shoes 6 

Fat  Sheep  per  head 10 

Beans  per  peck  

Beef  per  pound 

Pork  per  pound 


80 

00 

50 

00 

I 

6 

10 

00 

IS 

00 

3 

00 

15 

00 

00 

00 

12 

00 

00 

00 

00 

00 

30 

00 

17 

00 

42 

6 

10 

00 

00 

00 

00 

00 

20 

00 

4 

6 

7 

6 

276  APPENDIX 

£     s.    d. 

Tow  cloth  per  yard 8  oo 

One  Cow  &  Calf 150  00  00 

Cheese  per  pound 8  00 

One  ox 225  00  00 

1762. 

Corn  per  bushel 100  00 

Barley  per  bushel 80  00 

Mare  and  colt 130  00  00 

Veal  per  pound 6  00 

Cheese  per  pound 12  00 

Sarge  per  yard 14  00 

Wool  per  pound 23  00 

"             "            18  00 

"             "           25  00 

Sheep  per  head 1 2  00  00 

One  pair  of  shoes 6  00  00 

"        "      "      8  00  00 

Thread  per  skein 3  00 

Making  one  Gound. 20  00 

One  Winter  Milch  Cow  &  Calf 150  00  00 

Eleven  dollars  equals 77  00  00 

Binding  for  a  Pettycote. 15  00 

Hay  per  hundred  weight 4  00  00 

Salt  Pork  per  pound 12  00 

Veal                 "  (side) 6  00 

"                    "  (hind  quarter) 5     6 

Two  oxen  beef  hides  &  Tallow  1398  lbs 

at  4X.  9^ 322     o     6 

One  Fat  Lamb , 5  00  00 

Fifty  Sheep  &  Lambs  at  £()  the  pair 450  00  00 

Af\  lbs  of  Sole  Leather  paid  by  2^  days' 

work  (Daniel  Knowles) 


APPENDIX  277 

1763- 

£    s.    d. 

Barley  per  bushel 90  00 

I  Fatt  sheep g  00  00 

Veal  per  pound 5     6 

5  00 

Mutton  per  pound 6     6 

Beef             "            5     6 

6  00 

I  Calf  skin 8  00  00 

Wool  per  pound 20  00 

I  Hatt  Beaver 40  00  00 

Leather  for  a  pair  of  shoes 5  00  00 

Sole  leather  for  a  pair  of  shoes 50  00 

Weaving  Flannel  per  yard 8  00 

Weaving  one  Coverhd 10  00  00 

Lamb  per  pound 7  00 

Calve  Skin 8  00  00 

Butter  per  pound 25  00 

Pickled  pork  per  pound 12  00 

Tow  cloth  per  yard 32  00 

Salt  per  bushel 90  00 

5  ^  &  ^  of  ozenbridges  at  38i" .  17  00 

Thread  per  Skein 4  00 

Woman's  work  per  week 50  00 

18  lambs  at  £(i  per  head 108  00  00 

4  Sheep  2X  £i2.\o 50  00 

One  Black  mare 220  00  00 

Two  Fatt  Horses 660  00  00 

Cheese  per  pound 

"            ''           10  00 

(or  dd.  lawful  money.) 


278  APPENDIX 

1764. 

C    s.    d. 

Corn  per  bushel 80  00 

Barley  per  bushel 80  00 

Herd's  grass  seed  per  quart 25  00 

Cheese  per  pound 12  00 

Tobacco     "           9  00 

Gardening  (John  Dye)  per  day 3  00  00 

Shoes  made  by  John  Shearman g  00  00 

Veal  per  pound 5  00 

"           "          hind  quarter 5     6 

Pickled  pork  per  pound 12  00 

100  feet  of  white  pine  boards 12  00  00 

Pair  of  stockings 4  00  00 

"     "  mitts 25  00 

Two  Hoogh<??  of  Cyder  Con*  7  Barrels  at  £^  35  00  00 

4  oz  Indigo 3   15  00 

Calve  skin  Vamps  for  a  pair  of  shoes 2   10  00 

2  Bushels  of  Lime 3   10  00 

Paper  per  quire 34  00 

Mohair  per  stick 10  00 

Flax  per  pound 16  00 

Wool        "        2500 

Tow  cloth  per  yard 30  00 

Side  of  Lamb  weight  S^^s 2     8  00 

Lamb  skins 5   10  00 

26th  —  4th  mo.  To  one  Ten  shilling  Bill 
Lawful  Money  dated  ye  12  th  of  ye  5th 
month  1760  Turned  into  old  Tenor  14 
pounds.  (280  shillings  =10  —  i  J.  =  28J.) 
Received  of  Jos*^  Torrey  by  the  Hand  of 
his  wife  14  Spanish  Mill<J  in  gold  &  sil- 
ver to  buy  a  cow  for  him  in  Connecticut. 
Returned  8  dollars  some  cop""  i  cow  to 
s'l  Torrey. 


APPENDIX  279 

£    s.    d. 

i^th  gtno  By  five  Shillings  Lawful  Money  & 
the  Int  i^\  it  being  dated  the  20'"^  third 
month  A.  D.  1762  in  old  Tenor  five 
Pounds  Ten  Shillings  &  6^  (;^s.io^6d.) 

For  recording  the  will  of  Robert  Hazard.  .  4  00  00 

1765- 

Corn  per  bulhel 1 00  00 

Barley       "          80  00 

Weaving  Tow  cloth  per  yard 8  00 

*'          Linnen 12  00 

Beef  per  pound 4    6 

"           "          ii^hmo 5  00 

Shoes 9  00  00 

Cheese  per  pound 4  00 

Cow  and  calf  at 20  Spanish  Silver 

Milld  Dollars. 

Cheese  per  pound 8  00 

Skim  Cheese  per  pound 4  00 

Flax  per  pound 20  00 

Wool  per  pound 38  00 

Two  cows  Weighing  (Beef  Hides  and  Tal- 
low) 1 133  Jbs  at  5J- 283     5  00 

Filling  one  Barrel  with  Cider 4  00  00 

Pickel  Pork  per  pound 10  00 

1766. 

OLD  TENOR.  LAWFUL. 

£        S.      d.  £       S.     d. 

Corn  per  bulhel  6th  mo 80  00 

"               "        7th  mo 39 

Oats             "             16 

Flax  seed  per  bushel 3     9 


280  APPENDIX 

OLD  TENOR.        LAWFUL. 
£      S.      d.         £      s.      d. 

Veal  per  pound 5  oo  2\ 

Beef 4  00 

New  England  Rum  per  gallon  70  00 

I  yearling  steer 2     8  00 

Hojifewifery  per  week 50  00 

Tea  per  pound 8  00  00 

Wool  per  pound i4i 

"       9 

Butter  per  pound 16  00 

Sugar  per  pound 15  °o 

Weaving  C<a!//w/;zr<7  per  yard . ,  16  00 

Molasses  per  gallon 36  00 

Cheese  per  pound 3I 

Skim  milk  Cheese  per  pound  2\ 

Sheep  Skins 40  00 

Spinning  Worfted  per  Skien . .  7  00 

"         Lining  yarn       "      .  8  00 

Pickeld  Pork  per  pound 1 2  00 

"  "  "  ID    00 

Filling  one  Barrel  with  Cider.       7  00  00 

9  Sheep  &  Lamb  skinf 12  00  00 

Tow  per  pound 4^ 

One  pair  of  shoes 160  00 

Cranberries  per  quart 6  00 

Carting   with    Team    &    one 

hand  per  day 44 

Two  pair  of  oxen  to  plough 

per  day 2     3 

One  Barrel  of  Sugar  9  doUers 

One  pound  of  Indigo  i|^  " 

62  Cheeses  62  " 

One  doUer  to  be  confidered  at      8  00  00 


APPENDIX  281 


Settled  accounts  with  Daniel 
Knowles  and  credited  ye 
full  Ballance  of  Twenty 
Pounds  old  Tenor  (being 
first  turned  into  Lawful 
money  @  233- &  1/3  amount- 
ing to  17J.  \d.  &  3/4  Law- 
ful) on  a  note  of  hand  I 
have  against  him. 

George  Ireish. 

1 8th  6th  mo.  To  one  Dark 
Coloured  Natural  pacing 
Horfe  with  some  white  in 
his  Face,  at  fifty-five  Silver 
Spanish  mill'*  DoUers.  I  am 
to  take  I  hoggshead  of  Mo- 
lafses,  I  barrell  of  sugar  at 
£']o  old  Tenor  per  Hun- 
dred, the  Molafses  at  the 
value  of  36^.  old  Tenor.  A 
Doller  being  considered  at 
the  value  of  Eight  Pounds 
old  Tenor,  the  Remainder 
in  Tea  at  ye  Rate  of  Eight 
Pounds  old  Ten"^  and  in  In- 
digo at  the  Rate  of  Twelve 
Pounds  old  Tenor  to  have 
one-Half  of  ye  remainder  in 
Tea,  &  ye  other  in  Indigo. 


OLD  TENOR.  LAWFUL. 

C    s.     d.         £     s.    d. 


282  APPENDIX 

1767. 

OLD  TENOR         LAWFUL. 

£,    s.  d.        £    s.    d. 

Corn  per  bufliel 80  00  3  00 

"  "         2  mo 90  00 

Apples  per  bufhel 9 

Barley  per  bufhel 3  10  00 

Oats  "         45  00  16 

Salt  ''         80  00 

Onions  per  bushel 3  00 

Wool  (old  Wool  &  Dagglocks) 

per  pound 4i 

Gammon  per  pound 12  00 

Fifh  per  pound 2     6 

One  Sheep 12  00  00  9  00 

Mutton    (hind   quarter)    per 

pound 6  00 

Veal  per  pound 6  00 

Pork        "  7  00 

Beef         "  46 

Hogg's  Fatt  per  pound 14  00 

Weaving  linnen  per  yard. ...  15  00 

"         Tow  coverlid 8  00  00 

To  cutting  and  carting  half  a 

load  of  wood 6  00  00 

I  old  Horfe  to  Rowland  Rob- 

infon 3   15  00 

Received  in  full   for   ye   old 

Horfe 100  00  00 

\o\  days'  work  &  4  days,  mow- 
ing paid  by  8  bulhels  3 
pecks  of  corn,  i  Fatt  Lamb, 
and  I  Spanish  Mill"^  Dol- 
lar. 


APPENDIX  283 

OLD   TENOR.  LAWFUL. 

C      S.     d.  £     S.      d. 

Cheese  20  pounds  the  Span- 
ish Dollar. 
12th  mo.  2nd  day. 

William    Congdon    son    of 

Josh  Dr. 
To  one  Bay  Horfe  five  years 

old  ©500  lbs.  &  one  half 

Hundred  w'  of  sugar  such 

Sugar  as  was  Set  at  8  Dol- 
lars the  Hundred  Clean  & 

of  a  bright  Colour. 
Peleg  Peckham  credit.     One 

Piece  of  Gold  of  ye  Value 

of  8  Dolli-s  &  4  Dollers  in 

Dollers  by  ye  Hand  of  thy 

Wife  (for  cheese). 

One  Ewe  lamb 6  00  00 

3  Piflereens  at 7  J 

Flower  per  pound 5  00 

Molafses  per  gallon 55  0° 

One  yoke  of  oxen 9  00  00 

Cheese  20  pounds  y^  Spanifh 

Doller , .  .  8  00 

New  England  Rum  per  gallon 

Load  of  Hay 

Hay  per  Hundred  weight. . .. 

Side  of  Leather 

Plowing  Andrew  Nichols'  Loti 

Tallow  per  pound 

Sugar  "  

Sheep  skins 

Lamb      "     


2      3 

2       6    CO 

I       2\ 

2       3 

5  00 

5i 

15  00 

25    CO 

20  00 

284  APPENDIX 

OLD  TENOR.  LAWFUL. 

i^      S.     d.     £     S.     d.qr. 

One  Lamb 5     3 

Stone  Lime  per  bushel 4  10  00 

I  Thimble 6  00 

Cheefe  new  milk 9  00 

1768. 

Corn  per  bushel 80  00          3  00 

Oats  per  bushel 40  00           i     6 

Barley  per  bushel 80  00           3 

Wool  per  pound 32  00 

Flackseed  per  bushel 46 

Flax  per  pound 16  00 

Tea  per  pound 6  00  00          4    6 

Sugar  per  pound 13  00                6 

Chocolat  per  pound 42  00           i     6 

Wine  per  gallon 3  00 

West  India  Rum  per  gallon  .  .  80  00 

New  England  "         "             .  .  52  00 

Weaving  K//i//^/%!«z«^  per  yard  8  00 

Cheese  per  pound 8  00 

Shoes  per  pair 2  00  00 

Soles  for  shoes > . .  .  25  00 

To  John  Shearman  for  making 

and  repairing  Shoes  for  ye 

Family   ye    year   past,    and 

his  finding    some   Women's 

Hats 75  00  00 

1  Steer 20  00  00         15  00 

2  Earthen  Boles.      One    Jack 

Knife  &  dozen  of  pipes  in 

I  Yearling  Steer 50  00  00     117     6 

I  Steer,  a  Neat  Beaft 65  00  00     2     8  4^ 


APPENDIX  285 

OLD   TENOR. 
C      S.      d. 

To  Two  Johannes  in  Gold  to 

the    value    of    16    Spanish 

Milld  Dollers 

1  Fat  Lamb 

I  quarter  of  Lamb 

Pickel  Pork  per  pound 12  00 

5  mo.. 

6  Pound  old  Ten.  equal 

Lime  per  bushel 4  10  00 

Fifh  per  pound 3  00 

I  Sythe  Snead 

I  old  Sythes  per  pound 

Molafses  per  gallon 55  00 

*'  "        8th  mo  ....       46  GO 

Veal  per  pound 

igibs  of  Flax  @  7I  of  a  Far- 
thing  

Spinning  80  skeins  of  Linen 

Yarn  per  skein 8  00       i     4     o 

Carding     and     Spinning    75^ 

skeins  Tow  per  skein 7  00       i  00  00 

Weaving    30   yds   Tow    Cloth 

per  yard 8  00  9  00 

Weaving    42    yds    Diaper    @ 

per  yard 1000  15     9 

Boiling    &  Washing   the  yarn 

that  made  s^  cloth 3   12  00  2     6 

To  Carting  with  my  Team  one 

Load    of    Goods     from    J. 

Franklin's  ferry  to  s^  Peleg's 

(Peckham)  houfe 9  00 

By  28'b  of  Rice  1/4  &  1/16  of 


LAWFUL. 

c 

S. 

d.  qr. 

4 

16 

00 

5 

3 
14 

5i 

4 

6    \ 

3 

A\ 

I 

6 

2U 

II 

A\ 

r 

I 


286  APPENDIX 

OLD  TENOR.  LAWFUL. 

£       S.     d.        £    S.     d.    qr. 

Callico  I  Earthern  Bole  1/2!^ 
ofAllum  Some  Red  Worfted 
Quality  3  Needles  2  Skeins 
of  Thread  1/4  yrd  of  Cam- 
brick     The  whole  £\z.   8. 

-  3d  1/2  old  Ten 1000    3 

By  18/ old  Tenor 8 

John  Gardner  (on  y^  Hill 
weaver)  in  South  Kingstown 
credited  By  weaving  i  Cover- 
lead  at 8  6 

Mowing  a  day 3 

To  Two  Johannes  in  Gold  to 
ye  Value  of  16  Spanish  Mill^ 
Dollers  Jo"  Garton  Prefent  4  16  00 

Keeping  Cows  per  week 40 

1769. 

Oats  per  bushel 40  00  i     6 

Apples  per  bushel 15  00 

Salt  per  bushel 4  00  00  3  00 

Load  of  hay 40  00  00 

to  be  paid  in  carpantry  per  day  5  00  00 
Sheep  skins  with  wool  on  ... .    6  00  00 

"         and  lamb  skins  ...  40  00  00  6  00 

Candles  per  pound 20  00  9 

Cheese  per  pound 10  00 

Plumbs  (3  pounds) 36  00  i     4 

Molasses  per  gallon 46  00 

I  Saddle  Cloth 12  00  00 

I  Hunting  Saddle 60  00  00 


APPENDIX 


287 


OLD  TENOR. 
£      S.      d. 


LAWFUL. 
C     S.      d. 


To  I  Book  Entitled  the  Prin- 
ciples &  precepts  of  ye  Chris- 
tian Religion  &c 10  00  4^ 

(Josh.  Hull  credited) 

By  making  one  Hetchel  at 
3  shillings  old  Ten"^  per 
Tooth  320  Teeth 16  00 

By  one  fire  Pann 3  00 

Some  Sole  &  upper  Leather  @         120  46 

Tallow 4    9 

(Benedict  Oatley.) 

By  ;^9  old  Tenor,     he  said  it 

was  to  Buy  Corn  with 69 

To   1/2  lb  of  Candles  @  2qs 

old  Teno^ 4^ 

To  3  lbs  of  Pickle  Pork  @  loj.  11^ 

633  weight  of  young  Swine  @  4  4  1 1     i 

I   days  carting  with  my  Team  9 

Lamb  per  pound 6 

Mutton         "         6 

250  Clout  Nails 35 

By  I  pair  of  shoes  set  on  y^ 
hipt  mare  he  found  Iron 
for  I  shoe i      \o\ 

By  shoeing    my  Horfe  &  my 

old    mare,    each   a   pair  of  16 

shoes  before  @ 

To  the  Happy  man  &"=  a  half 

sheet  @  2  coppers 

1770. 

Corn  per  bushel 80  00  3  00 

Oats  per  bushel 40  00  i     6 


288 


APPENDIX 


Flaxseed  per  bushel 

Wool  per  pound 

Cheefe  per  pound 

Skim  Cheefe  per  pound 

Veal  per  pound 

Beef  per  pound 

Lamb       "  

I  Heifer  at  9  dollars 

Bafs    Fish    scal<^  and    gutted 

per  pound 

Fish     "  

Pork  per  pound 

£2,  old  Tenor  ©9// 

3  Spanifh  Mill<J  dollers 

Tallow  Tried  per  pound ...    . 

Butter  per  pound 

I  Horfe o .  .  .  25  dollars 

Keep  of  a  horfe  per  week  .... 

*'         "     cow  "        . . .  • 

Coll'  John  Potter  D^ 
To  5  veal  Calve    skins    Del^ 

thy  Negro  Hager  when  she 

had  20  of  wool  for  Thee  at 

30i-,  old  Ten 

Filling  one  barrel  of  Cyder. .  . 
Twelve  Pounds  old  Ten  @  9^ 
Tailoring    per    day    (Andrew 

Nichols) 

Haying  per  day 

10  lb  old  Iron  when  I  sent  my 

Hand  Irons  to  be  repaired  @ 
One  pair  of  Vamps  for   Shoes 


OLD  TENOR. 
C     s.       d. 


30  00 


2i 


6  00 

4  6 

7  0 

2  14  00 

3  00 

2  6 

7  0 

6  00 

18  00 

12  00 

20  00 

40  00 

40  00 

50 


LAWFUL. 

C 

s. 

d. 

9 

oo 

3 

4i 

7 

6 

i8  00 


APPENDIX  289 

OLD  TENOR. 
C       s.      d. 

15  pounds  of  Flax  per  bushel  16 

Salt  per  bushel 

Fat  Sheep  each 

Chocolate  per  pound 40 

Mutton  per  pound 6 

To  Carting  wood  y«  3  day  & 
fifth  day  of  this  Instant  y^ 
ii^h  mo 12   00  00 

To  my  Team  &  hand  one  day 
to  Move  thy  Goods  to  the 
Ferry  at 16  00  00 

Beef  hides  &  Tallow  per  pound  4     6 

1771. 

Corn  per  bushel 80  00 

Oats  "  

Apples  per  bushel 35  00 

Veal  per  pound 6  00 

Beef  per  pound 5  00 

To  carting  one  day 1 2  00  00 

Chocolate  per  pound 40  00 

Sugar  per  pound 15  00 

I  pair  of  Shoes  at 9  00  00 

I  Fatt  Horse  @  40  Dollars  . . . 
I  Fatt  Steer  @  16  Silver  Dollars 

Half  Soles  and  heel  lifts 20  00 

Sole  leather  per  pound 30  00 

1  day's  work  at  putting  in  Glafs 
&  Winder  Cafements  @ . . . .  4  00  00 

6  days  work  at  maks  my  Cart 

&   bearing  8    yoakes  at   3®  18 

2  days  work  at  Carpentry  ©  3s  6 


6    9 

00  00 
16  00 


290  APPENDIX 

OLD  TENOR.  LAWFUL. 

£     s.     d.       £    s.     d. 
(Powel  Helme  credit) 

9th  3rd  mo  Reed  7'^  of  Choco- 
late toward  keeping  y^  Cod- 
dington  Horfe 

9th  4'h  mo  To  7  weeks  &  six  days 
keeping  y^  Coddington  Horfe 
at  i'''  of  Chocolate  per  week  10     6 

gth  ^th  nio  Credit  by  thy  In- 
structs my  Robert  in  the  art 
of  Navigation  in  Part,  @  5^- 
8^  which  is  in  full 5     8 

Keeping  a  horse  per  week 14 

I  acre  of  Land  Plow^  &  How^ 

to  Plant  Corn  at    28  00  00     11     i 

Dagg  Locks  per  pound 10 

Plumbs  per  pound 18 

Lamb  "         7 

Salt  Hay  per  Hundred 40 

1772. 

Corn  per  bushel  3d  mo 3  00 

8th  mo 39 

Oats  per  bushel 40  co 

Molafses  per  gallon 46  00 

I  h  02  5  3/41^3  of  Sugar  per. . 

hundred 42 

(By  my  Stillyards  114^'^) 

Cheese  per  pound 12  00 

Weaving  Flannel  per  yard ....  8  00 

Salt  per  bushel 34^ 

I    pair   Shoes    76 

Hogg's  Fatt  per  pound 14  00 


APPENDIX  291 

OLD  TENOR.  LAWFUL. 

£      S.      d.  £      S.      d. 

To    Filling    1     Hedged     with 

Cyder  per  barrel 5     3 

Keeping  a  horse  per  week ....  16 

I  days  work  at   repairing  y^ 

Dragg 4 

0oseph  Hull  Jun^)  Credit 

By    making   &    Setts      one 

shoe  I  found  Iron  &  mend- 
ing 2  Pair  of  Bridle  Bits  @ 

2s  old  Ten  each 4 

Tow  per  pound 9 

Mutton     "  6 

Beef         "  5 

Veal         "  6 

I  days  Work  with  my   Cart  & 

oxen  Carting  wood 9 

One  Load  of  Hay   Weighing 

2230    Weight 2     5  00 

3    Hundred  1/4  with  y«  Ropes 

that  Bound  it  of  Hay  @ . . . ,  23 

1  Three    year   old    Heifer   @ 
ID  Dollers 

2  Fatt  oxen  @  63  Dollers 


1773- 

Corn  per  bushel 39 

Barley  per  bushel 3  00 

Lime  per  bushel 39 

Tar  per  gallon 13 

To  Making  one  pair  of  Cloth 

Shoes   &  Sole    Leather  & 

Thread 5  00  00  3  00 


3h 

4h 

5 

oo 

i8 

oo 

292  APPENDIX 

OLD   TENOR.        LAWFUL. 

£     s.      d.       C      s.    d. 

Sheep  at 10  00  00       112     6 

Hay  per  hundred  weight....        3  00  00  23 

Beef  per  pound 4  00 

Cheefe  per  pound 6 

Butter  per  pound 22  00 

Pork  per  pound 8  00 

Tow  "  

One  pair  of  shoes 

To  Carting  wood  2  days 240  00 

Tar  per  quart 8  00 

To  Carting  one  Load  of  Cole 

from  Tho^  Sweets  @ 

To  Carting  one  Load  of  Cole 

from  Ministerial  Farm  @.. 
Rowland  Robinfon  D"" 
^st    2^  mo  To  III   Sheep  @ 

;^io  (and  he  ought  to  Pay 

for  keeping  them  3  weeks). 
2^th  ^mo  Rec^  3  Balls  30  Dol- 
lars 1  Barrel  of  Flower  7I 

Dollars 
i^th  ^th  mo  Rec^  100  Dollers 

one  Doller  lefs  16  old  yet 

Due.     Paid  in  y^  whole  for 

the  Sheep. 

John  Hazard  D"" 
11*'^  mo  22^  day  To  Two  beef 

Hides  by  thy  Boy  i  being  a 

Bull's   &    ye    other    Cow's 

Hides. 
J  5th  12th  uio  To  3  Beef  Hides 

I    being   an   ox   Hide   the 


% 


APPENDIX 


293 


OLD  TENOR. 
C        s.     d. 


Other  Two  Cow  Hides  &  2 
Boar  Skins. 
17  Settled  3  Calves  Skins  in 
which  Settlem'  Coufin  Haz- 
ard is  Debtor  to  me  40/  old 
Tenif  and  Receiv*^  2  Sides 
of  Sole  Leather  Weighing 

23lbs. 

1774. 

Corn  per  bushel 

Barley  per  bushel 

Potatoes  per  bushel 

Tar  per  gallon 

Sole  leather  for  a  pair  of 
shoes 

Pork,  pickled,  per  pound .... 

Day's  work  carting  wood .... 

I  Silver  Dollar  @ 

Keeping  a  horse  per  week. . . 

To  my  Team  &  2  Hands  Cart- 
ing one  Load  of  Sand  from 
little  Neck  Beach  to  Tower 

Hill 

Gideon  Fowler  D^. 

To  one  silver  Doller  @ 

Ro¥    (S-  Tommy  Frefent. 

Joseph   Congdon  Jun""   Cred- 
itted  since  we  Settled 
To  Shoeing  Horfes  By  Set- 
ing  five  pair  of  Shoes  on  5 
Horfes  @  7^^ 

^th  gth  mo  By  Repairing  one 


3     9 

3  00 

35  00 

32  00 

I     6 

12  00 

9  00 

6  00 

I     6 

6  00 


6  00 


3  00 


294  APPENDIX 

OLD  TENOR. 


£    S.    d. 


Staple  for   a  forebridge  of 

a  Cart  &  Shuting  together 

the  Iron  for  the  End  of  the 

Tongue   of   the    Cart  nine 

nales  to  nale  it i     6 

j^th  gth  mo  by  Shoeing   my 

great  Bay  mare  afore  only.  i       \ 

By      Shoeing      Rowland's 

Horfe  afore  only  I  found 

the  Shoes 7i 

(Turn  over  4  leaves  &  look 

to  the  Right  Hand) 
In  y^  year  1774  Rec^  of  Oliver 

Kinnion    i2|ib    of   Fish   & 

gave    him    an   order   upon 

Joshua  Sweet  s<J  Fish  at  35-. 

old  Ten--  p-"  p^ i   i8  00 

So  Kingston  &<=    Jeffrey 

Watfon  Jr.  D""     10''^  mo 
I  Vol.  of  Sewel's  Hiftories  at  18  00 

&  4  coppers  Expense  on  it.  2^ 

C*  By  6  /  sent  to  Philadelphia 

■when    Subscriptions    were 

Sent  there 60 

Received  Two  Dollars  &  four 

Coppers  of  Jeffrey  Watfon 

Jun"-  in  full 12  00 

S°  Kingstown  12*  12^^  mo  A  D  1774 
Brought  from  the  231^1  Page 
John  Torrey  D"" 
To  keeping  his  Horfe  from  the 
i7t'>  of  the  9th  month  to  the 


APPENDIX  295 

OLD  TENOR.         LAWFUL. 
£      S.      d.  £      S.      d. 

29*^  of  the  11^  month  viz 

7  weeks  @  i^  6<^  p""  week..  .  9  00 

John  Torreys  Horfe  came 

to  me  to  Winter  the  2""^  day 

of  the  12'h  month  again. 
1775     John  Torrey  took  his 

Horfe    away   having    been 

with  me  at  Pasture  fifteen 

Weeks  Two  days  from  the 

2d  of  ye  12''^  mo  1774  @      (A  blank  left. 

See  Settlement  in  1781.) 
To    Carting    one    Load    of 

Sand  @ 6  00 

1775- 

Corn  per  bushel 3  00 

White  beans  per  bushel 46 

Cheese  per  pound 6  00 

New  Milk  Cheese  per  pound.  12  00 

Veal  per  pound 5   00 

Salt  Pork  per  pound 12  co 

Beef  per  pound 4     6 

(Andrew  Nichols  Jun^) 
To  carting  Load  of  Eal  Grass 

to  thy  house  &  Collecting  it 

from  my  shore 23 

Mowing  a  day 4  00  00 

Farm  labor 40  00 

Spinning  linen   per  skien...  8  00 

Tallow  per  pound 16  00 

6'h  mo.    Receivd  Two  Dollars 

of   Rowland   Robinfon   to- 


296  APPENDIX 

OLD  TENOR. 


d.    qr. 


ward    Some   I   Lent    Him 

10*'^  mo  22  in  Paper  Bills 

by  y^  hand  of  my  fon  Rob* 
This  ace'  is  Carried  for- 
ward to  157 
Lent  Brother  Rowland  Rob- 

infon  in  the  -^^^  month  Last  19    6  00 

My  Wife  lent  his  Wife  in  her 

last  Sicknefs 6  00  00 

I  over  paid  him  ^s  per  Gallon 

for  67  Gallons  of  Molafes 

which  amounts  to 127^ 

C   given    to    the  above  ace* 

againfl  Rowland  Robinfon 

In  the  6'^  ^^o  Last  Receiv^  . . 

io"i  mo  Receiv^  in  Paper  Bills 

one  \os  Bill  &  one  \2S  Bill 

To  I  pair  of  oxen  3  times  to 

ye  ferry  &  to  Littlerest  @ .  . 
To  I  pair  once  to  y^  Ferry  @ 
To  i6ib|  of  Cheefe  @ 12  00 

(Other    entries    of    oxen's 

work  with  no  price.) 
j^th  ^th  fno  Receiv^  the  above 

ace*  againft  Powel  Helme 

in  a  Settlement  with  him 
T  Hazard  of  Rob^ 

Shoeing  the  old  black  mare 

before i8| 


1 18  I  i 

12  CO  CO 

I     2   CO  GO 

I    14  CO  GO 

(blank.) 

7   6   \ 

APPENDIX  297 

OLD   TENOR.  LAWFUL. 

£     s.     d.       £   s.    d.    qr. 

Shoeing  the  great  bay  mare  be- 
fore   I     8     \ 

Shoeing  Tommy's  Horfe  be- 
fore    I     8     \ 

John  Gould  Credited 
9th  mo  2^  Day  To  his  wife's 
Spinning  24  Scains  of  lin- 
nen  yarn  at  8/  old  Ten. 
Settled    this    ace'     with 
John  Gould 

•e^^  mo  5'h  day  Benj  Perry  D«" 

To  I  Veal  Calve  Skin  delv^ 
p^  Quafh 

6  day  To  i  veal  Calve  Skin 
delv^  to  thy  own  hand 

S**"  mo  6*  day  To  one  Calve 
Skin  Sent  by  Son  Rowland 

i6'i'  To  one  Bull  Hide,  died  at 
Giddeon  Clarkes,  sent  by 
Tommy 

20*^  To  one  Calve  Skin  deliv- 
er*!  it  myself 

1^^  month  ii'h  day  To  one 
Large  Veal  Calve  Skin  y^ 
day  I  set  out  for  the  Quar- 
terly Meet.  Sent  per  Row- 
land 

1776. 

Corn  per  bushel 3     00 

Turnips  per  bushel 12^ 

White  beans  per  bushel 6     00 


298  APPENDIX 

OLD  TENOR.  LAWFUL. 

£      S.      d.  £      s.      d. 

Leather  for  a  pair  of  shoes .  .  3  00 

Caps  &  Taps  for  a  pair   of 

shoes I  00 

Double  Fold  Linen  per  yard  8  00 

New  Milk  cheese  per  pound .  S 

Beef  "  .  6     6 

Wool  per  pound 16 

Cloth  for  a  coat  per  yard ....  9  00 

One  Hoe 3     6 

Valentine  Ridge  for  Combing 

Warsted  per  pound 14  00 

Tow  cloth  per  yard 2  00 

South  Kingstown  &c  y'^^  mo 

5'''  day. 
Eunice  Nichols  Tailorefs  D"" 
To  13'!^   of   Sheeps  Wool  @ 

Entered    here    by  miftake 

turn  over  5  Leaves  look  to 

the  Right  Hand  for  her  ace' 

(Having     turned     over     5 

leaves) 

Unice  Nichols  D' 
26'^  6th  mo    To  one  bulhel  of 

Indian  Corn  at  3/ 3     o 

^th  yth  mo   To  13I''  of  Sheeps 

Wool  at IS  oi 

gth  to  2ib|  of  Veal  @  6/ 12 

8'!^    mo    26"»>   day   To    2     of 

Tow  @  (by  thy  Father)  4'^.  8  00 

To   \\  yard  of  Double  Fold 

Linnen  @  8/ I2  00 

To  Leather  for  a  pair  of  Shoes 

;^5  old  Ten 3     9 


APPENDIX  299 

OLD  TENOR.            LAWFUL. 

£  S.      d.          £     S.      d. 

[q'**  mo  3'^  day  To  51b  of  Mut- 
ton at  7  Shillings  old  Ten'.  i  3J 

[777  3''d  mo   To  30'  of  Flax 

@ (blank) 


To  2ibf  of  Sheeps  Wool  being 

s^  unices  Ballance 

Benj»  Perry  Credited 
2<*  mo.  25«h  day  By  Two  Calve 

Skins  one  a  very  Small  one 
20th  4''i  mo  By  i  Side  of  Sole 

Leather 

2ist    ^th   mo    Rec^    5    Calve 

Skins   being   my  §  with    2 

Rec^  heretofore  out  of  11 

Calve  Skins  Deliver^  in  y« 

year  1775 

James  Helme  Credited 
i^'  mo  22<^  day  for  writing  my 

Will 12  00 

21^'  2d  mo  ReC^  of  Thomas 

Robinfon  Thirty  one   Shil- 
lings Lawful  Money  to  Lay 

out  in  Flax 
3"'dmo  14  Day  Sent   Thomas 

Robinfon  30I  of  Flax,  and 

Since  Settled  the  Remain- 
der of  s<i  30/  with  Him 
T  Hazard 
John  Smith  D"" 
9'h  mo.  2o«h  day  To    i^bulh- 

els  of  Corn   @ (blank) 


300  APPENDIX 

OLD  TENOR.  LAWFUL 

£       S.        d.  £      S.      d. 

John  Smith  Paid  y^  above 
Charge  of  i^  bufhels  of 
Corn  in  his  Wifes  whitening 
linnen  Cloth  for  my  Wife 
When  they  Settled. 

1777. 

Corn  per  bushel 4  00  00  3  00 

Butter  per  pound 9 

Cheese  per  pound 6 

Making  a  pair  of  Bretches ...  9  00 
"      for 

Tommy 6     9 

Board  Nails  per  thousand. .  .  20  00 
Two  hundred  Weight  Grofs  & 

91b  Neat  of  Hay  ©3/ 63 

Benj  Perry   Cr. 
12  mo  3'-d  By  3  Sides  settled 

Wt  371b    Perry  had  22»b   \ 

&   I   had    i4iib   \  of    the 

Hides    delivered     him    in 

1775  &  1776  and  one  side 

unfettled    not   being   Suffi- 
ciently Dried  the  Weight  to 

be  Known  by  y^  other  Side 

when  it  shall  be  Dried   & 

Coufin  Perry  hath   rec^  51b 

\  of  what  is  settled  more 

than  his  Part. 
23rd  jst   mo    1777    Settled   6 

Sides   with   the  one   Men- 
tioned    above     not    Suffi- 


APPENDIX 

301 

OLD  TENOR. 

LAWFUL. 

C      s.      d. 

C    s.     d. 

ciently   Dried     y«=   Weight 

Known  by  [that]  of  its  mate 

, 

South  Kingstown  &c  Look  on 

y«  Left  hand  one  Leaf  Back 
Chriftopher    Potter   Credited 

To    Making    Shingles    the 

Winter  paft  No  4073  @  5/  i  00  4^ 

6'^  mo  5"'  day  Numbered  the 

Cheefes  made  this  year  in 

the  Cheefe  House   17   and 

Two   in    the    Prefses    the 

Whole  19 
Benj  Hazard  Son  of  Richard 

left  my  Houfe  on  y^    18*^  of 

2^  mo  1777 
24'*>  6''^  mo  Sent  to  Paul  Green 

Ten    Calve   skins   Two   of 

them  Eat  much  with   Rats 

Two  Swine  Skins  four  Beef 

Hides  all  to  be  Tanned  & 

the  Calve  Skins  Curried  for 

one  Third  the  Hoog's  skins 

to  be   Drefsed  for  Saddle 

Leather. 
7t*>  mo  7'*'  day  To  Two  good 

Veal  Calve  Skins 
29'^   To  2   large  Calve  Skins 

Sent  by  Tommy 
Look   at  y«   Bottom    at    the 

Right  Hand. 


302  APPENDIX 

OLD  TENOR.  LAWFUL. 

£     s.     d.       £    s.    d. 
Supplied    the    Widow    Alice 

Gould    by    order    of     the 

Meets  for  Suffering  as  fol- 

loweth  (Vizt  ) 
\2^^  mo  8'^  day  To  one  pair 

of  Shoes  at  2i2>f i   13  oo 

Q***   To  7  yards  of  Tow  &  lin- 

nen  18/ 6     6  00 

The  above  articles  are  Settled 

by  receiving   pay  from   y^ 

Meeting  for  Suffers 

1778. 
17th  3rd  month.  Be  it  remembered,  that  it  is 
agreed  between  Thomas  Hazard  son  of  Robert,  and 
Sier  Averit,  in  manner  following  (Viz.)  That  the  s<J  Sier 
shall  work  at  Husbandry,  that  is  to  say,  at  Howing, 
Ploughing,  Walling,  Ditching,  Fencing,  Mowing,  Hay- 
ing and  milking  &c- For  the  full  Term  of  Eight  Months, 
to  begin  on  the  i8th  Instant,  and  to  be  compleat  and 
ended  on  the  18th  of  the  eleventh  month  following, 
&  to  make  good  to  s<^  Hazard,  all  lost  Time,  in  Pro- 
portion of  the  Value  of  Labour  at  the  seafon  of  ye 
year  when  it  may  be  Loft,  either  by  Sicknefs  or  other- 
wife.  And  the  said  Hazard,  doth  covenant  and  agree 
with  the  sd  Sier,  to  Pay  Him  at  the  end  &  Expiration 
of  Said  Term,  &  making  up  of  lost  Time,  The  full 
sum  of  five  Dollars  p""  month.  That  is  to  say,  Forty 
Dollars  For  the  Term  of  Eight  months  as  aforesaid. 
The  Value  of  which  money  is  hereby  agreed  on 
between  the  Parties  hereto  to  be  determined  and 
Settled  at  the   Expiration  of  the  Term  afores^>  by  a 


APPENDIX  303 

Liquidation  of  the  articles  hereafter  enumerated,  (Viz.) 
Pork  at  z\d.  p""  Pound,  Beef  at  yi.  p''  Pound,  Cheese 
at  five  Pence  p''  Pound  &  Indian  Corn  at  3  shillings 
p"- .  Bushel. 

As  Witness  our  Hands  the  day  &  year  first  above 
written, 

(Signed)  Th°  Hazard  of  Robt. 
Witness  —  Anstis  Brown.         Sier  Averit. 

Colonel  John  Willson  D' 
3d  mo  14'h  day  To  14'^'!  of  Cheefe  a  6/  and  4*^  bush- 
els of  corn  (no  price) 

22nd  of  1 2th  month,  Col.  John  Wilson  settled 
accounts  this  day  with  Tlaomas  Hazard  of  Robert, 
and  there  is  due  to  him  on  balance,  4  pounds  of 
cheese. 

As  witnesseth  my  hand.     (Signed)  John  Wilson. 

12th  day  of  2nd  month  1780,  in  settlement  of  ac- 
count this  day  received  satisfaction  for  the  above  4 
pounds  of  cheese  of  Col.  John  Wilson. 

(Signed)     Thomas  Hazard. 

Of  Cheefe  made  this  year  1778  Viz  No  74  the  27*^ 
of  the  7'h  mo  with  that  made  this  day  Tho^  Hazard 
of  Rob^ 

i^t  mo  28th  day  Received  of  Rowland  Robinfon 
Seven  Pounds  Ten  Shillings  in  Paper  Bills. 

8'*>  mo  4»'i  Coufin  George  Hazard  son  of  Richard 
Borrowed  of  me  37  Paper  Dollars 

26'h  8'h  mo  Rec^  a  note  of  George  Hazard  for 
S"i  Dollars 


304  APPENDIX 

LAWFUL. 

£s.  d. 
26th  ^rA  jno  3  yards  of  Tow  Cloth  in  one 

Frock 4    6 

I  pair  of  old  Stockings i     o 

To  mending  one  pair  of  Shoes  &  Thread  at  16 

One  Knot  of  Thread  @ 2% 

Making  Shirts  Each  old  Tenor  40J 
I  pair  of  Leather  Breches  36/. . 

Sai'ge  per  yard £'j  00  00 

Shoes  per  pair 6  00  00 

1779. 

LAWFUL. 

Making  one  Coat 15  00 

I  pair  Knee  buckles i     4  00 

Mowing  per  day 3  00 

(Memorandums  of  corn,  butter,  veal,  molasses,  wool, 
etc.,  occur  in  this  year  with  no  prices  attached,  and 
the  accounts  seem  to  have  been  settled  by  barter  as 
in  the  previous  year,  and  as  in  the  following  agree- 
ment.) 

1779.     4th  month  23rd  day. 

Settled  accounts  with  Thomas  Hazard  of  Rob*,  and 
there  is  due  to  said  Hazard,  the  full  Ballance  of 
Spinning  54  and  ^  scains  of  linen  yarn,  which  she  is 
to  spin  by  Promiss  under  her  hand. 

Anstress  Crandol. 

1779.     7th  month  3rd  day. 

Anstress  Crandall,  credited. 
By  spinning  54  and  ^  skains  of  yarn. 


APPENDIX  305 

^rd  mo  3d  day  agreed  with  Siah  Averit  to  Labour  at 
Hufbandry  for  Eight  months  at  5  Silver  Dollars  p'' 
month 

Turn  over  4  Leaves 

(Having  turned  over  four  leaves  a  long  account  is 
seen.) 

Sier   Averit   Continued    from   4  £  s.  d. 

Leaves  Back 

To  one  sheep  skin  for  a  Leather  apron  @  i 

To  Repairing  thy  Shoes  &  Soles  2    3 

These  are  the  only  items  carried   out.     Tow  cloth 
Thread,  making  Breches  and  shirts,  shoes,  stockings. 
To  9  sheets  of  paper  at  three  Several  Times 
To  one  Knife  at  10  Dollars 
To  I  pair  of  Shoe  Buckles®  12    dollars:  3  pence: 

hard  money 
To  Doctor  Torrey  6/  in  the  old  way 
To  10  Dollars  for  his  Sicknefs  &  Trouble 

(All  are  entered,  but  not  carried  out.  At  the  very 
end,  crowded  at  the  foot  of  the  page,  comes  the 
receipt.) 

3'^dnio3i.  1780  Settled  with  Tho^  Hazard  for  16 
months  work  in  y^  Two  Seafons  past  last  &  Received 
of  Him  the  full  Ballance  of  Fifty  five  Pounds  Ten 
Shillings  Lawful  money  as  Witnefs  my  Hand 

(Signed)  Siar  averit 

3'-d  month  9'^  day  George  Hazard  Son  of  Richard 
Entered  into  &  occupied  part  of  my  houfe  above  the 
Rode  &  is  to  Give  me  9  Dollars  p""  annum  to  be  paid 
in  Labour  at  Hufbandry  the  Enfuing  Seafon  at  3/ 
p"^  day  for  mowing  &  1/6'^  for  Howing  &  Haying. 


306  APPENDIX 

1780. 
In  evident  despair  at  the  trouble  of  managing  so 
many  kinds  of  money  the  last  accounts  in  the  book 
are  boldly  in  Old  Tenor,  with  no  attempt  at  other  reck- 
oning, though  there  are  many  items  with  no  prices 
attached. 

ii'h  mo  2ist   Daniel  Rowland  D"" 

To  one  Hundred  Weight  of  New  Milch  Cheefe  @ 
(no  price) 

^th  yth  month  1 78 1  Rec*  a  Note  of  Hand  for  the 
above  ace'  of  s^  Rowland.     He  paid  the  Note, 

(Entries  of  corn,  mutton,  veal,  tallow,  beef,  one  tur- 
key, molasses,  wool,  are  made  in  Valentine  Ridge's 
account  but  with  no  prices.) 

io<h  mo  27'^  on  Settlement  with  Neighbour  Ridge  & 
there  is  due  ^^  30  5^.  dd.  old  Tenor. 

1781. 
7*'^  mo  31  John  Torrey  credited  by  his  ace'  for 
weaving  43  yards  of  Flaning  &  28  yards  of  Broad 
Cloth  &  weaving.  On  Settlement  of  all  ace's  made 
with  Thomas  Hazard  this  day  there  is  due  to  Him 
the  Ballance  of  Seven  Pounds,  Fourteen  Shillings  at 
the  Rate  of  Four  Pounds  p""  Bufhel  for  Corn. 

(Signed)  John  Torrey. 

John  Watson  D"" 
5'h  mo  9'h  day  To  i  peck  of  befl  Rock  Salt  @  (no 
price)  Rec^  of  John  Watfon  pay  for  y^  Peck  of  Salt 
except  3  Coppers. 

William  Congdon  D"^ 

£,     s.     d.   qr. 

To  Two  little  Books  @ 9  00 


APPENDIX  307 

£     s.     d.     qr. 
in  ye  Old  Tenr  way 
To    loib    of  sugar  @ 

7^   ^q"" 8  00  00 

To     is^b       of     Good 

Mutton  H.  Q.  @ 4  1 2  09 

!!*•'  mo  27*^*  Oliver  Smith  a  Negro  Boy  came  to  My 
Houfe  with  his  Miftrefs  Elizabeth  Smith  aged  8 
years  the  7'*»  of  the  8"^  mo  this  Prefent  year  who  is 
to  work  for  me  for  his  Bringing  up  untill  he  may 
have  an  advantageous  opportunity  to  go  apprentice. 

1782. 
nth  gth  month  Numbered  the  Cheefes  in  the  Cheefe 
House  &  y™  in  the  Prefses  one  of  which  made  this 
day  the  whole  amount  to  70  in  all         Th^  Hazard 

Made  a  Double  Curded  Cheefe  on  the  22'^^  day  of 
the  9»h  month  &  afterwards  until  the  6»^  mo  24 

£    s.    d. 

in  ye  old  Ten  way. 

To  IX.  dd.  in  Hard  Money 2  00  00 

Corn  per  bushel 80  00 

Veal  per  pound 6  00 

Butter  per  pound 20  00 

To  2  Dunghill  Fowles  @  20/ 2  00  00 

1783. 
5*  mo  24*  William  Congdon's  ox  was  Brought  to 
Pafture  @  (no  price)  Drove  s<^  ox  away  the  10'*'  of  the 
6^''  .month  in  8"^  year  having  been  here  2  weeks  &  3 
Days.  Robert  Hazard  my  Son  Rec^  Pay  for  Keeping 
the  ox  of  William  Congdon. 


308  APPENDIX 

1784. 

9*'^  mo  we  had  of  Son  Rob'  Corn  for  the  Piggs  as 
foUoweth  meafur^  myself  i^  Bushels  Jack  i  bushel 
Abigail  3  Pecks  Oliver  half  a  bushel.  26'^  q^'^  mo 
Nicholas  Gould  had  24^^  of  Pickle  Beef  Son  Rob*  about 
14  Quarts  it  being  all 

27th  Nicholas  Gould  had  half  a  Bulhel  of  Indian 
Corn  @  (no  price) 


CONTRACTS  FOR  LABOUR. 

1757- 
Priamus  a  Negro  Boy  Came  to  live  with  me  at  my 
Houfe,  the  week  after  y^  General  Election  Held  at 
Newport  for  General  officers  for  the  Colony  of  Rhode 
Ifland  in  the  year  one  Thoufand  Seven  Hundred  & 
fifty  seven,  being  six  years  old  the  octob'  following 
the  s^  Election,  which  was  held  in  May  before. 

1759- 
5th  of  jst  1x10  A:  D:  1759.  Mary  Dick  began  to 
Work  and  is  to  Work  untill  y^  i^'  of  y^  4  mo  @.  30/ 
P""  Week  &  from  that  Time  untill  y^  end  of  y^  eleventh 
month  @  40/  P"^  Week  that  is  to  Say  8  months  of 
ye  year  at  40/  &  4  at  30.  And  She  is  to  have  Two 
pair  of  Shoes  in  y^  year  at  £i^  the  Pair,  She  to  do 
Houfehold  Work  &  y^  Dairy  both  Butter  &  Cheefe 
&  other  Bufmefs  When  Necefsary. 

1759     2^41111x10. 
Then  agreed  vvith  William  Wallfworth  to  work  with 
me  Six  months  if  I  like  to  hire  him  after  one  month 
for  Twelve  Pounds  Lawfull  money  (But  if  I  should  not 


APPENDIX  309 

Like  to  hire  him  after  one  month  is  Expired  then  I 
am  to  Give  him  for  said  one  month  Thirty  Shillings 
Lawfull  money  it  being  Connecticut  Prock  so  Called 
no  interest  to  be  reckoned  thereon, 

24*'^  of  ye  2"^  month.  Anno  Domini  1761. 
Daniel  Knowles,  fon  of  John  Knowles  of  Richmond- 
ton,  began  to  work  with  me  at  Huf  bandry  and  hath 
agreed  to  Labour  thereat  from  the  day  abovef'^  for 
y«  full  Term  of  one  year,  and  to  make  up  all  Lost 
days  after  the  end  of  s^  year  and  I  am  to  Give  him 
therefor  when  said  time  be  fully  ended,  the  full  sum 
of  Three  Hundred  Pounds  old  Tenor 

Tho  Hazard  foN  of  Robt 

fo  Kingstown  ye  24"'  of  the  4*^  mo  1761  agreed  with 
John  Bull  to  Work  for  me  from  y'=  19'^  Ins*  for  y« 
term  of  Six  months  he  is  to  make  good  all  Lost  day 
in  which  he  may  be  out  of  my  Bufmefs  by  sicknefs  or 
otherwife  &  I  am  to  give  him  therefor  at  the  Expira- 
tion thereof  ;^24o. 

5'i>  month  Call^  May,  1762, 
Jonathan  Maxfon  of  Richmond  began  to  Work  at 
Huf  bandry  for  fix  months  with  me  he  to  make  Shoes 
in  Wet  Weather  if  it  shall  beft  agree  with  my  Conven- 
iency,  and  when  said  Term  be  fully  Compleated  I  am 
to  Pay  him  Two  Hundred  &  Eighty  five  Pounds  old 
Tenor  &  keep  him  one  Horse  during  s'^  Term. 

4*    4'*^  month  1763. 
Joseph  Davis  of  Westerly  began  to  Work  for  me  at 
Husbandry,  and  in  Wet  weather  to  Labour  at  Carpen- 
try &c.  for  the  Term  of  Six  months,  he  to  make  good 


3IO  APPENDIX 

all  Lost  Time  at  y^  Expiration  thereof  and  I  am  to 
Pay  him  for  his  Labour  to  be  done  in  s^  Term,  after 
Rate  of  ;^5o  p""  mo. 

i2mo  27  day  1763. 
Then  agreed  with  Henry  Hill  to  Labour  for  me  at 
hufbandry  &  at  any  kind  of  Businefs  to  be  done  at 
Farming  for  the  Term  of  Ten  months  to  begin  on  y^ 
2nd  (Jay  of  ye  i^'  month  next  in  y^  year  1764.  And  at 
y^  Expiration  of  s"^  Term  he  Paying  all  Lost  days  I 
am  to  Pay  him  the  sum  of  ;^40o  Pounds  old  tenor  or 
the  Value  thereof  in  any  kind  of  Bills  or  money  cur- 
rent at  s'^  Time. 

1763- 
Michael  Dye  began  to  Work  with  me  who  is  to 
Work  8  months  making  good  all  Lost  days  if  any 
Should  be  through  Sicknefs  or  other  unavoidable 
cause  &  When  the  Same  is  compleated  as  Covenanted, 
I  am  to  give  him  therefor  ;^40o  old  Tenor,  or  an 
equivalent  in  Dollers  at  £1  P^  DoUer,  to  be  at  my 
election. 

Tro  Hazard  foN  of  Rob^ 

ist  day  9th  month  1763. 
Hir<^  John  Mash  for  one  month  (he  to  pay  lost  days) 
when  it  is  Compleated  to  give  him  Thirty  five  Pounds 
for  his  Labour 

The  1 6th  of  the  8'^  month.  Then  Took  of  John 
Mash  Jun"-  Eighteen  Spanifh  mill^  Dollars  &  one 
Piece  of  Gold  Call'^  an  eight  Doller  Piece  or  half  Jo- 
hannes To  lay  up  for  him  as  he  is  Drawn  &  going  in 
the  Englifh  army  against  the  French. 


APPENDIX  3 1 1 

The  (i^"^  day  of  the  iith  month.  Delivered  to  said 
John  Mash  Jun"^  the  Eighteen  DoUers  and  piece  of 
Gold  above  mentioned. 

The  i4''»  of  the  2>^^  month  Call^  march  A:  D :  1764: 
Covenanted  &  agree^  With  Jos''  Davis  of  Hopking- 
ton  to  Labour  for  Seven  Months  to  begin  on  y«  26th 
Ins'  he  to  make  up  Lost  days  if  any  there  should  be 
and  When  s<i  Term  Shall  be  Compleat  &  ended  I  am 
to  allow  &  Pay  him  as  a  Confideration  therefor  the 
Sum  of  Three  Hundred  &  Sixty  Pounds  old  Tenor  or 
an  equivalent  in  any  other  medium  Current  in  the 
Colony  of  Rhode  Ifland. 

S°  Kingstown  y«  24*  of  Sixth  month  A :  D : 
1766  Then  agree'd  with  Mary  Chafe  for  one  year 
from  the  date  hereof  at  y«  Value  of  50/  old  Tenor  P'' 
Week  for  the  Summer  Seafon  &  forty  for  the  Winter 
Seafon     She  is  to  Work  at  Houfewifery  Spinning  &c. 

1778  So  Kingstown  &c. 
Jacob  Barney  Came  to  my  Houfe  the  19th  of  ye  s'** 
month  &  Went  to  work  the  Next  day  at  Hatting 
(viz.t)  on  the  20*''  and  is  to  Work  four  months  @ 
Journy  Work  &  he  is  to  Teach  my  Son  Tommy  the 
Hatters  Trade  &  alfo  another  Lad  if  I  require  it  & 
Provide  one  and  I  am  to  Pay  Him  the  Common 
journy  man's  Wages  in  the  usual  way  (according  to 
the  No  of  Hatts  he  Shall  make  in  s^  Term)  by  the 
Hatt  &  to  find  him  his  Board  for  his  instruction  of 
the  Lad  or  Lads  as  afores^. 


312  APPENDIX 

1778.  S"  Kingston  &=•  17th  3rd  mo. 
Be  it  remembered  that  it  is  agreed  betwen 
Thomas  Hazard  fon  of  Rob*  And  Sier  Averit  in 
manner  following  (Viz.)  That  the  s<^  Sier  Shall  work 
at  Hufbandry  that  is  to  Say  at  Howing  Ploughing 
Walling  Ditching  Fencing  Mowing  Haying  and  milk- 
ing &<=  For  the  full  Term  of  Eight  Months  to  begin  on 
the  18'^  Instant,  and  to  be  compleat  ended  on  the 
i8'h  of  the  eleventh  month  following  &  to  make 
good  to  s"^  Hazard  all  loft  Time  in  Proportion  of  the 
Value  of  Labour  at  the  seafon  of  y^  year  When  it  may 
be  Loft  either  by  Sicknefs  or  otherwife.  And  the 
said  Hazard  doth  covenant  &  agree  with  s^  Sier  to 
Pay  Him  at  the  end  &  Expiration  of  Said  Term  & 
making  up  of  lost  Time  The  full  sum  of  five  Dollars 
pr  month  That  is  to  say  Forty  Dollars  For  the  Term 
of  Eight  months  as  aforesaid.  The  Value  of  which 
money  is  hereby  agreed  on  between  the  Parties 
hereto  to  be  detirmined  &  Settled  at  the  Expiration 
of  the  Term  afores^  by  a  Liquidation  of  the  articles 
hereafter  enumerated,  (Viz.*)  Pork  at  3^  |  R  Pound, 
Beef  at  3^^  Cheefe  at  five  Pence  P""  Pound  &  Indian 
Corn  at  3/  Shillings  P""  Bufhel  as  Witnefs  our  Hands 
the  day  &  year  first  abovewritten 

(Signed)  Th°  Hazard  of  Rob' 
Witnefs  —  Anstis  Brown.  Sier  Averit. 

1 78 1  ii'h  month  27^^  day. 
Oliver  Smith  a  Negro  Boy  came  to  my  Houfe  with 
his  Miftrefs  Elizabeth  Smith,  aged  8  years  the  7*''  of 
the  8th  juo"»  this  Prefent  year,  who  is  to  work  for  me 
for  his  Bringing  up  untill  he  may  have  an  advanta- 
geous opportunity  to  go  aprentice. 


APPENDIX  313 

1789  i8th  day  4th  month  A.  D.  1789. 
Agreed  with  Jack  Sanford,  a  Black  man,  to  Labour 
with  me  at  Hufbandry  &  He  is  to  milk  through  the 
Seafon  &  take  care  that  all  the  Cows  are  well  Milked 
for  the  full  Term  of  Seven  months  from  the  Last  day 
of  the  third  month  now  last  Past,  &  will  be  com- 
pleat  &  ended  the  last  day  of  the  Tenth  month  in 
this  Present  year  &  he  is  to  make  up  all  Lost  Days, 
which  He  may  Loofe  through  sicknefs  or  any  other 
unavoidable  Contingency.  And  I  on  my  Part  am  to 
Pay  or  Cause  to  be  Paid  to  him  the  Value  of  Three 
Dollars  p'^  month,  in  articles  and  Produce  off  the 
farm,  at  the  Following  rates  (viz.t)  Corn  at  3J-.  p' 
Bushel,  Cheefe  ^\  per  pound  &  other  articles  at  a 
proportionable  Rate,  in  the  old  way  &  in  Cloathing 
as  may  be  agreed,  if  He  needs  any  All  which  is 
to  be  Due  &  to  be  paid  at  the  Expiration  of  said 
Term  as  Witnefs 

(Unsigned) 

{A  small  sheet  not  bound  in  the  Account  Book.) 

This  may  Certify  that  Thomas  Hazard  of  So 
Kingstown  in  the  County  of  Wafhington  and  State 
of  Rhode  Ifland  yeoman  hath  let  unto  Thomas  Gould 
(a  black  man)  for  the  year  enfewing  a  certain  privi- 
ledg  containing  the  lower  rooms  of  the  hous  where 
said  Gould  lived  last  year  except  a  priviledg  in  one 
half  the  seller  and  the  priviledg  of  pafsing  in  at  the 
door  next  the  Rode  to  the  firft  stairs  leading  up  into 
the  Chambers  in  said  hous  Likewise  one-Quarter  of 
an  Acre  of  ground  for  a  garden,  Being  the  same 
ground  s"^  Gould  occupied  for  a  Garden  laft  year. 
For  which  previledg  said  Thomas  Gould  agreeth  to 


314  APPENDIX 

pay  unto  the  said  Thomas  Hazard  aforefaid  two 
pounds  Eight  Shillings  in  Labour  for  the  rent  thereof 
one  year,  which  is  to  commence  on  the  25th  day  of 
the  third  M"  AD  1794  and  to  end  on  the  25*'^  day  of 
the  third  M°  in  the  year  AD  1795 

In  prefence  of  his 

Job  Watson  Jn^  as  witnefs       Thomas  X     Gould 

marke 


RECORD   OF    BIRTHS. 

Sarah  Hazard  Daughter  of  Tho?  Hazard  and  Eliza- 
beth his  Wife  was  born  the  io'>  day  of  the  month 
Called  January  (it  being  y^  i^.t  day  of  y?  week)  old 
Stile  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord  one  Thoufand  feven 
Hundred  and  forty  Seven  (1747) 

And  Departed  this  Life  the  Twenty  Sixth  day  of 
may  on  the  Seventh  day  of  the  Week  about  Eleven 
o-Clock  at  night  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord  one  Thou- 
fand Seven  Hundred  and  fifty  Three  New  flile  being 
five  years  four  months  and  five  days  old. 

Robert  Hazard  fon  of  Tho?  Hazard  &  Elizabeth  his 
Wife  Born  the  Seventeenth  day  of  The  Tenth  month 
Called  October  about  fifty  minutes  after  one  o:Clock 
in  the  morning  in  the  year  one  Thoufand  Seven  Hun- 
dred fifty  &  Three 

Thomas  Hazard  fon  of  Thomas  &  Elizabeth  his  Wife 
Born  the  Thirteenth  day  (being  y^  5th  day  of  y^  Week 
about  9  'oClock  morning)  of  the  eleventh  month  Called 
November  &  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  Thoufand 
Seven  hundred  &  fifty  five  and  Departed  this  Life  the 
fifteenth  day  of  the  Third  Month  in  the  year  of  our 


I 


APPENDIX  315 

Lord   one   Thoufand    Seven    Hundred  and  fifty  Six 
about  10  morning  o Clock  y^  2^  day  of  y?  Week 

Thomas  Hazard  fon  of  Thomas  &  Elizabeth  his 
Wife  Born  y?  15'.^  of  y?  11'.*^  mo  Called  november  5"' 
of  y«  Week  about  Nine  o'Clock  in  the  Evening  A:  D: 
1758  being  the  2"?  fon  of  that  Name 

Rowland  Hazard  fon  of  Tho?  Hazard  &  Elizabeth 
his  Wife  Born  the  4^.^  day  of  the  4*^  mo  Call4  April 
being  the  Second  Day  of  the  Week  about  Ten  o'Clock 
in  the  forenoon  according  to  the  World's  Ace',  one 
Thousand  feven  Hundred  and  Sixty  Three 

1781  Sarah  Daughter  to  Tho?  Hazard  Jun":  &  Anna 
his  Wife  &  Grand  Daughter  to  the  aboves*?  Thomas 
Hazard  &  Elizabeth  his  Wife  was  Born  the  iS'^  day 
of  the  9"'  month  about  y!  middle  of  the  Day.     1781. 


A  REGESTOR  OF  DEATH'S. 
My  Father  Robt  Hazard  Died  y?  20*  of  y«  5»>  mo. 
1762  at  about  half  after  one  in  y!  morning  ;  After  an 
Illnefs  of  Ten  Weeks  &  four  days  eleven  Hours  &  an 
half  which  he  bore  with  a  becoming  Patience  Aged 
Seventy  Three  Years 

Tro  Hazard  fon  of  Robt  deed 

My  Grand  Father  Tho^  Hazard  Departed  this  Life 
y^  2ist  day  of  y«  month  Call^  November  in  the  Year 
one  Thoufand  Seven  Hundred  &  forty  Six,  aged  88  or 
89  years.  This  ace*,  taken  from  a  memorand.  found 
amongft  my  Fathers  Papers  after  his  Death. 

TrO'  Hazard  fon  of  RobT  deed 


3l6  APPENDIX 

Brother  Richard  Hazard  Departed  this  Life  on 
ye  2oth  of  y^  Ninth  month  Call^  Septemb":  aged  31 
years  10  month  &  Ten  days  He  died  on  y?  t^^^  day 
of  y^  Week  about  38  minuts  after  Four  in  y^  afternoon 
after  an  Illness  of  Twenty  days  1762 

W™  Robin fon  fon  of  Rowl4  &  Mary  Robinfon  died 
ye  jgth  <^ay  of  the  y'P"  being  y^  5  day  of  y«  Week  at 
near  12  at  night 

Lathan  Clarke  son  of  Samuel  &  mary  of  Conanicut 
departed  this  Life  the  Seventh  of  y?  fifth  month  4"! 
day  of  y?  Week  about  the  dawning  of  the  Day  1760 

Martha  the  Widow  of  s4  Latham  &  Daughter  of 
William  Robinfon  by  his  firft  Wife  (Viz«)  Martha 
daughter  of  John  &  Sarah  Potter  departed  this  Life 
ye  7**1  of  ys  9'h  month  about  9  of  y^  Clock  in  y^  Even- 
ing 1760. 

Venibee  departed  this  Life  the  3'''^  of  the  i^'  mo 
1759 

Dick  drowned  y?  22^  of  y!  4**^  mo  1759 

1767  Sufannah  Hazard  Widow  of  Richard  Hazard 
aboves"?  &  Daughter  of  George  &  Mary  Hazard  (of 
Boflon  Neck  in  S°  Kingstown  late  deceaf^)  departed 
this  Life  on  the  28'!^  of  y?  4*^'  mo.  Call<i  april  about  9 
oClock  in  y^  evening  aged 

1771  Stephen  Champlin  Departed  this  Life  the  22 
of  the  7th  mo.  Call'i  July  the  first  day  of  y?  Week 
about  Sun  Sett. 


APPENDIX  317 

Mary  Champlin  Widow  to  the  above  s4.  Stephen 
departed  this  Life  the  \-^y  of  the  2>^  month  A.  D  1773 
aged 

Sarah  Hazard  Widow  of  Robert  Hazard  late  de- 
ceased, departed  this  Life  the  i^.'  day  of  the  2"?  month 
CalH  February  1772  about  half  after  Eight  oClock  in 
the  evening  being  the  7'>  day  of  Week.  Aged  77 
years  the       of  the  Eight  month  Call"^  Augufl  177 1. 

The  12'h  of  the  7'^  month  Called  July  A.  D:  1732 
Grand  Father  Richard  Borden  departed  this  Life. 

The  above  ace'  of  Grandfather  Borden's  Death 
was  taken  from  an  ace'.  Left  by  Father  Hazard  & 
found  on  a  loofe  Paper  amongst  his  Papers  after  his 
Death 

Tho  Hazard  of  Robt 


INDEX. 


Act  of  1729,  regulating  Eman- 
cipation, 45. 
Allen,  Mathew,  164. 
Anabaptists,  25. 
Apprenticeship,  167. 
Arnold,  Thomas,  187. 
Assembly,  General,  1672,  8. 
Atherton  Company,  the,  5,  6. 
Austin,  Jeremiah,  121,  166. 
Averit,  Sier,  114. 

Babcock,  Abijah,  123. 

Barclay's  Apology,  192. 

Barney,  Jacob,  122. 

Beef,  7S. 

Benson,  Gabriel,  25,  136. 

Bent,  Sarah,  129. 

Berkeley,  his  visit  to  Newport, 

25. 
Berkeley  on  slavery,  46. 
Books  as  plunder  of  war,  201. 
Borden,  Sarah,  33. 
Boston  Neck,  purchases  in,  20. 
Brags,  Nicholas,  104. 
Brenton,  Jaleel,  83. 
Brinley,  Francis,  20. 
Brinley,  Dame  Deborah,  20. 
Brown,   Moses,    180,   187,  199, 

205. 
Brown,  Thomas,  36. 
Browne,  William,  35. 
Bull  house,  destruction  of,  11. 
Bull,  Isaac,  37. 
Jireh,  9. 
Patience,  34. 
Burnyeate,  John,  10. 
Burrill,  James,  188. 

Caliminco,  loi. 
Canonicus,  no. 


Carpenter,  James,  97,  104. 
Carts,  let,  71. 
Cartwright,  John,  10. 
Cattle  distrained,  157. 
Champlin,  Stephen,  36, 124, 136. 

Mary,  126. 

Robert,  126. 

Susey,  210. 
Chase,  Mary,  131. 
Cheese,  78. 
Chocolate,  67. 

Clapp,  President  of  New  Ha- 
ven College,  33. 
Clarke,  John,  13. 

Latham,  58,  138. 

Martha,  138. 
Coddington,  William,  13. 

Colonel,  137. 
Coins,  148. 

Cooke,  Governor,  152. 
College,  New  Haven,  ;^2- 
College    Tom.       See    Thomas 

Hazard,  son  of  Robert. 
Collins,  Amos,  175. 

John,  205. 

Joseph, 116. 

Hezekiah,  177. 
Committee    on     Manumission, 

177- . 
Committee  on  Rathburn  case, 

174. 
Congdon,  Ephraim,  176. 

Joseph,  81,    165,  191,   192, 
196,  200. 

Joseph,  Jr.,  68. 

Samuel,  209. 
Connecticut  boy,  43. 
County  pay,  19. 

Court  of  General  Assembly  in 
Narragansett,  9. 


320 


INDEX 


Corn,  109. 

Corn,  price  fixed  for  it,  113. 
Crandall,  Anstress,  104. 
Grossman,  Sarah,  tailoress,  131. 
Culverwell,  Thomas,  loi. 
Currency,       Friends      advised 
against  it,  202. 

Dag-locks,  94. 

Dancing,  160. 

Dick,  Mary,  130. 

Dockray,   John,   takes  cheese, 

80. 
Dorothy's  Hollow,  92. 
Dougglass,  Joanaa,  130. 
Drinker,  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  182. 
Duroy,  97. 
Dye,  Michael,  121. 

John,  123. 
Dyre,  William,  13. 

Easton,  John,  36. 

Nicholas,  Governor,  9. 

Nicholas,  140. 
Education,  198. 
Edwards,  Jonathan,  188 
England,  sports  of,  28. 

Fayerweather,    Rev.    Mr.,    49, 

99. 
Fenner,  Arthur,  187. 
Ferry  to  Newport,  76. 
Fight,  Great  Swamp,  11. 
Finances,  154. 
Flax,  104. 
Fox,  George,  9. 
Fox,  George,  the  meeting,  24, 

49,  159;  his  Journal,  192. 
Friends  clear  of  slavery,  176. 
Friends'  School,  200. 
Friends'  sufferings,  201. 

Gardner,  Anstis,  36,  138. 

Henry,  83. 

John,  76. 

William,  139. 
General  Assembly,  1672,  8. 
Gorton,  Samuel,  7. 

Samuel,  in  Aquidneck,  13. 
Gould,  Adam,  115. 

John,  104. 


Great  Swamp  fight,  11. 
Greek  Testament,  35. 
Green,  Paul,  74. 
Greene,  Richard  Ward,  188. 
Greenman,  Hannah,  96,  104. 
Griswold,  Matthew,  179. 

Handkerchiefs,  105. 
Handson,  John,  37. 
Hamond,  Joseph,  Jr..  36. 
Hammond's  Mill,  116. 
Hafsard,  35. 
Hassard,  Esther,  36. 
Hassard,  Robert,  35, 
Haszard,  Susannah,  22. 
Hay,  77. 

Hazard,  variety  in  spelling  the 
name,  22. 

Abigail,  37. 

Bedford  Tom,  40. 

Caleb,  163. 

Elizabeth,  141. 

Enoch,  145. 

Colonel    George,    14,    22, 

lOI. 

George,  150. 

Hannah,  13. 

Isaac  Peace,  39,  42,  50. 

Jeffrey,  120. 

Stout  Jeffrey,  88. 

Jeremiah,  22. 

Jonathan,  22,  52. 

Jonathan,  son  of  Jonathan, 

153- 

Jonathan  of  Newport,  8r. 

Mary,  daughter  of  Robert, 
32- 

Mary  Peace,  letter  from, 
214. 

Richard,  death  of,  53,  144, 
166. 

Robert,  of  Enniskillen,  12. 

Robert,  1 2  ;  deed  of  gift, 
21. 

Robert,  of  Boston  Neck, 
30 ;  deputy  from  South 
Kingstown,  31  ;  his  will, 
31 ;  makes  a  deed  of  gift, 
39;  not  a  Quaker,  59; 
deed  of  gift,  50  ;  Will  of 
1745,  51 ;  his  last  will,  51 ; 


INDEX 


321 


death  of,  qi ;  in  ministe- 
rial suit,  84 ;   provisions 
of  his  will,  124. 
Robert,  Dr.,  36. 
Robert,  Governor,  36. 
Robert,    son    of    Richard, 

144. 
Robert,  son  of  Thomas,  39, 

210. 
Rowland,  son  of  Thomas, 

40,  87,  132,  141,  211. 
Rowland,  son  of  Rowland, 

89. 
Stephen,  144. 
Sarah,  89,  90. 
Sarah,  210. 
Susey,  210. 
Thomas,  12. 
Thomas,  his  will,  23. 
Thomas,  of  Boston  Neck, 

15-22. 
Thomas,    record     of      his 

death,  24. 
Colonel  Thomas,  45. 
Thomas,  of  Newport,  59. 
Thomas,  Jr.,  210. 
Thomas,  Jr.,  132. 
Thomas,  son  of  Benjamin 

(Nailer  Tom),  69,  135. 
Thomas  R.,  12  ,  212. 
Hazard,  Thomas,  son  of  Robert, 
his  marriage,  37 ;  his  door- 
steps, 39;  awakened  to  the 
evils  of  slavery,  42  ;  his  edu- 
cation, 48 ;  his  father's  will 
destroyed,  51;  executor,  52; 
his  account  book,  56;  joint 
heirs  in  Susquehannah  Co., 
144;  first  service  to  the  meet- 
ing, 164;  on  committee  to 
correspond  with  London 
Friends,  178;  on  committee 
to  petition  Legislature,  180; 
on  committee  to  draw  consti- 
tution for  Abolition  Society, 
187  ;  on  committee  to  take 
deed  of  old  meeting-house, 
191  ;  on  committee  to  define 
duties  of  overseers,  191  ; 
clerk  of  the  meeting,  194; 
his    handwriting,  200;   signs 


address   to   Generals   Wash- 
ington   and  Howe,  205 ;    ap- 
pointed to  encourage  Friends 
in  the  trials  of  war,  208 ;  his 
death,  215. 
Hefernan,  William,  9. 
Helme,  James,  storekeeper,  21- 
58;  purchases  at,  131. 
Judge,  137. 
Powel,  67-72. 
Helmes,  the  family,  137 
Herd's-grass  seed,  77. 
Hetchel,  68, 
Hill,  Henry,  119. 
Hopkins,  Stephen,  180. 

Samuel,  188. 
Horseshoes,  68. 

Hospital   in   the    old   meeting- 
house, 2o6- 
Howe,  General,  205. 
Huguenot  refugees,  25. 
Hull,  John,  6, 

Dame  Judith,  20. 
Joseph,  blacksmith,  67. 
Hutchinson,  Mrs.,  7. 

Independents,  25. 
Inflated  currency,  147. 
Irejsh,  George,  63. 

Jake  ways,  Lowes,  128,  132. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  185. 
Jeffreys,  Mr.,  13. 
Jesse,  Joseph,  98. 
Johnson,  Augustus,  139. 
Jonnycake,  iii. 

Kings  County,  44. 
Kings  Province,  The,  8. 
Kingstown  incorporated,  II. 
Knowles,  Daniel,  97. 

John,  176. 

William,  155. 

Lawton,  Isaac,  178. 

Lease  of  land,  19. 

Linen,  97. 

Little  Neck  beach,  64. 

Little,     William,      shoemaker, 

74- 
Lyman,  Daniel,  188. 


32? 


INDEX 


Martin,  Albert,  97. 
Mash,  John,  58. 

Manumission,    Committee    on, 
177. 
papers,  177. 
Griswold  on,  179. 
Matunuc,  29. 

McSparran,     Dr.     James,     on 
boundaries,  4 ;  on  his  field  of 
labor,  24  ;  on  Dr.  Clapp,  32  ; 
services    for   slaves,   47 ;    on 
various  sects,  49  ;  on  slavery, 
53;    ministerial  lawsuit,   85; 
on   the    products    of    Narra- 
gansett,  93. 
Meeting,  George  Fox's,  10. 
Meeting-house,  wedding  in,  30. 
used  as  hospital,  207. 
burned,  211. 
Milk,  78. 

Ministerial  Farm,  34,  72. 
Money,  paper,  145. 
Monthly  meeting  records,  159. 
Mott,  Jacob,  Jr.,  178. 
Mumford,  George,  84. 
Lucy,  37. 
Stephen,  30. 
Mutton,  94. 

Nailer  Tom.    6"/?^  Thomas  Haz- 
ard, son  of  Benjamin. 
Narragansett,  its  area,  3. 

Gov.    Winthrop's   descrip- 
tion of,  3. 

Country  writers  on,  27. 
Narragansett  pacers,  64. 
New  Light  Meeting,  128. 
Nichols,  Andrew,  72,  105-107. 

Eunice,  105. 

John,  150. 

Martha,  130. 
Niles,  Rev.  Samuel,  83. 
Nine  -  partners'  monthly  meet- 
ing, 194. 

Oatley,  Benedict,  98-103. 
Oats,  117, 
Oldham,  John,  no. 
Old  Tenor  bills,  60-147. 
Oxen,  71. 
Ozenbridges,  107. 


Paper  money,  145. 

Papers  of  Thomas  Hazard,  40. 

Pawcatuck  River,  4. 

Peace  Dale,  Site  of,  15. 

Peckham,  Peleg,  89,    148,    162, 
191,  198,  200. 

Pemberton,  John,  letter  from, 
182. 

Pepper-corn  as  rent,  I2i. 

Pequot  trail,  18. 

Pettaquamscut  purchase,  5-8. 

Philip's,  King,  War,  10. 

Phillis,  80. 

Pint  Judy  pint,  19. 

Point  Juda  or  Judah,  20. 

Pollock,  Willson,  158. 

Potter,  Henry,  155. 
Colonel  John,  73. 
William,  36. 

Powell,  Esther,  136. 

Priamus,  1 18-182. 

Providence  Society  for  abolish- 
ing the  slave  trade,  187. 

Pugh,  Sarah,  131. 

Quakers,  25. 

Wedding  of  Thomas  Haz- 
ard, 35. 

in  Rhode  Island,  49. 

not  Christian  people,  43. 
Quebeck,  letter  from,  145. 

Rate  bills,  156. 
Rathbun  slave  case,  170. 
Rathbun,  Joshua,  171. 

Joshua,  3d,  172. 
Redwood,  Mehitable,  69. 

William,  196. 
Reed,  Martin,  98,  103. 
Regulars  on  Point  Judith,  209. 
Rhode    Island,    a   Connecticut 
description  of,  6. 

boy,  43. 

paper  money,  60. 

College,  200. 
Richards,  David,  139. 
Richmond,  176. 
Ridge,  Valentine,  95. 
Robinson,  Elizabeth,  30;  mar- 
ried, 35. 

Hannah,  36,  87. 


INDEX 


323 


Robinson,  Matthew,  139. 
Mrs.  William,  139. 
William,  35;    letter  from, 

38. 
William,  140. 
William,  son  of   William, 

161. 
Rowland,    36  -  45 ;     takes 
cheese,  80 ;    his   conduct 
to   his   daughter,  87 ;    a 
deputy,  152. 
Thomas,   of  Newport,  81, 
188. 
Rodes,  James,  73. 
Rodman,  Anna,  210. 
Benjamin,  37. 
Benny,  116. 
Benjamin,  191. 
Samuel,  37. 
Thomas,  164. 
Thomas,  Jr.,  37. 
William,  37. 
Rotch,  William,  188. 
Rye,  117. 

Saddler,  73. 

Sandford,  Jack,  119. 

School,  130. 

Segar,  John  155. 

Sewall,  Samuel,  15;  deeds,  16; 

the  witch  judge,  17  ;  on  sla-  | 

very,  18  ;  the  school  and  Har-  I 

vard  foundation,  18.  | 

Hannah,    15;    her   dowry, 

17- 

Sewel's  History,  193. 

Shearman,  Eber,  97. 
Daniel,  15,  18. 
Hannah,  37. 

Sheep-folds,  72. 

Sheep.  94. 

Sheriff e,  Martha,  13. 

Shoes,  75. 

Silver,  price  of  in  1738,  21. 

Slave   code  in    Rhode  Island, 
166. 

Slaves,  28. 

Slave  trade,  25. 

Slavery        abolished       among 
Friends,  176. 


I  Slavery  act  of  1774,  181. 

the  abolition  act,  185. 
I         act  of  1787,  186. 
Society    for     the    propagation 
of    the    gospel    on    slavery, 
47- 
Spanish  milled  dollar,  6r. 
Steere,  Thomas,  196. 
Stockings,  105. 
Sufferings  from  war,  204. 
Sugar  Loaf  Hill,  5. 
Sugar  paid  for  a  horse,  65. 
Sullivan,  Judge,  188. 
Smith,  Dr.,  99.    - 
Elizabeth,  118. 
Richard,  testimony  against 
slavery,  169. 

Tanning,  73. 
Tea,  65. 

Temperance,  195. 
Test  Act,  202. 
Torrey,  Cuff,  54. 
Torrey,  Dr.  Joseph,  witness  to 
will  of   Robert   Hazard, 
51,72,82,137. 

John,  75,  86,  95. 

Mrs.,  138. 
"Trash,"  155. 

Vail,  Samuel,  20. 
Venibee,  132. 

Walley,  Joh.i,  16. 
Wanton,  Joseph,  178. 
Philip,  178. 
William,  178. 
Washington  County,  44. 
Washington,  General,  152,  205. 
Watson,  Job,  90,  126. 
Sarah,  126. 
Jeffrey,  149. 
Wilbour,  Thomas,  191. 
Wilkinson,  Jemima,  100,  213. 
Will  of  Robert  Hazard,  51. 
Will,  Samson,  58. 
Williams,    Roger,    2  ;     enters 
the     Narragansett     country, 
4 ;    the   Rhode    Island    spir- 
it, 7. 


324 


INDEX 


Willson,  Elizabeth,  82. 

Jeremiah,  note  from,  66. 

Samuel,  g,  66. 
Winthrop,  Governor,  3. 

the  younger,  6. 


Women's  meeting,  194. 
Woolman,  165,  168. 
Worsted,  97. 

Yearly-meeting  school,  199. 


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